The son of the Huntress IV: Blood of the moon
by Just Somedude 1
Summary: Eli hasn't been right since the battle on the mountain, and he isn't the only one who thinks so. The only problem is, he's not sure what exactly is wrong with him. Those urges are getting more and more common, until one night, they take him completely. Now, Raven and Antonio must track Eli down and stop him, before he does the very thing they all swore to prevent.
1. Chapter 1: A Roman proposal

**GUYS! Who missed me? Nobody? Well ight then. Look I been going through a lot of stuff recently, really personal so I'm not gonna get into it all that much. Anyways, I'd like to dedicate this first chapter to those that lost their lives to the ISIS attacks in Paris. Fly high everyone. And now I speak directly to ISIS, come at me you goat fuckers. America has 80,000 pissed off rednecks in my state alone, so you think your 71 plants, only 23 of which are trained fighters are gonna do shit? Fuck ya'll (This message does not apply to all Muslims, just the goat fuckers known as ISIS). Anyways, love ya'll, God bless you guys, make sure you drop a review and let me know how you like it. I love ya'll, so let's GET IT! (Btw, if you are reading this as of January 4, 2016, happy new year and Crip moon has been rewritten, so if you're reading this and you haven't read the updated version, go back and do so cuz it's sooo much better. Also I changed the prophecy of moonlight up a bit, so go look at that too)**

Chapter 1: A Roman proposal

Raven:

"Give it to me!" Amber pleaded "Stop teasing me!"

"Why?" I laughed "It's fun."

"Raven, I'm short," Amber laughed "Give me my damn snickers."

I laughed and handed her back her snickers bar, which she bit into while watching me out of the corner of her eye, to make sure I didn't snatch it again. We were seated on top of the Artemis cabin, enjoying my seventeenth birthday. It had been several months since we had returned from our quest, and I was glad to see Antonio was settling in nicely. It had taken everybody a while to finally stop staring at his arm, which he was grateful for. I hadn't seen Eli since he left for Camp Jupiter, but Reyna was going to let him come back to celebrate with us, since it was his birthday too. It had just turned midnight, and he was supposed to be here at around noon, and our mother had even promised to come back to see us.

"Happy birthday." Amber said, giggling

"Thanks," I said "What'd you get me?"

"A court date." She laughed

"Oh gods," I said, laughing with her "You think they'll drug test me?"

We laughed and she laid back against my chest, finishing off her snickers. When Eli got back, we were supposed to start making preparations to head to the underworld and find that potion, then we'd start playing it by ear. I had no idea how we were going to destroy it, but I knew there had to be a way.

"So," Amber said "I've got something I want to talk to you about."

"And that would be?" I asked

"You promise you won't get mad?" She asked nervously

"That depends on what it is." I said

"Well, I know Dad and Grace liked you," She began "We're taking a family trip down to Alabama next Thursday morning, and we'll be back on Sunday, everybody is getting together, I want you to come with us."

"I'm sorry," I said "What now? Amber, Eli and I are supposed to go after that potion."

"Can't it wait a few days?" Amber pleaded "We haven't spent a whole lot of time together ever since this whole prophecy thing started."

"What have we been doing the last few months?" I asked her

"I mean without having to run around in between lessons," She said "Please Raven, you guys can go as soon as you get back. It's only for three days."

"Alright," I said "But I have a bad feeling about this."

"I know you do," She said "But you have a bad feeling about everything."

She had a point, and I didn't argue. Amber knew me better than anybody, even my own brother. I had shown her sides of me that nobody had ever seen, sides that I hadn't planned on anybody ever seeing. Amber showed me that there were people who cared about me, and I finally had a home, a family. I didn't know what I'd do if I ever lost Amber, and I didn't want to think about it. Even though I knew better, I was always afraid with me being gone so much, absorbed in my own world, Amber would get bored with me and find someone better, someone who could give her what I couldn't, the type of guy she deserved.

"You're thinking about stuff again," Amber said "Stop thinking."

"Gods, you know me so well." I laughed

I kissed her, holding her close to me. I still got a little flutter every single time we kissed, like riding a roller coaster. She took my breath away, every single time. The longer I had known her, the more I had become accustomed to feeling this way, and I won't lie, I loved ever minute of it.

"I love you." She said when we finally broke apart

"I love you too." I said

Antonio:

"You alright?" Raven asked me, offering his hand

"Yeah," I said, taking it and pulling myself up "Hurt my ribs, but I'll be good."

"Yeah, I got a deadly foot." Raven laughed

What were we doing and why had Raven just kicked me? Well, we were training. Raven was helping me train and get better with my swords, and I had made fast progress. I was surprised at how easily all of this stuff had come to me, I had even gotten used to having a metal arm. It had come with a price though, and that was my dignity, at least it did until I choked a kid with it.

"Hey Skywalker!" Some Ares kid yelled "Block the lightsaber next time."

I was well aware that the arm I now had looked very similar to the one Anakin Skywalker had been giving after losing his arm, but that didn't mean I had to put up with it. I had been at camp for two months and had listened to comments like that nonstop, and finally I'd had enough.

"Still works just fine." I said angrily, approaching the kid

Before anybody could do anything, my metal arm had closed around the kid's throat and lifted him off the ground, pinned against the wall. In a blind rage, I held him as he gasped and choked for breath. Moments later, Raven was dragging me off of the kid, who had fallen unconscious due to the lack of oxygen.

"What's going on here?" Chiron had demanded, riding up to us

"Nothing." One of the Ares kid said, pulling the unconscious kid to his feet

"Yeah," Raven said, keeping his arm in front of me "Just a little scrap, everything's under control."

I knew Chiron hadn't bought it, but he nodded and rode away nonetheless. Since then, nobody had mentioned my arm, and I had gotten used to having it. It felt weird at first, but then, gradually, I grew to accept that it was now a part of me. It wasn't cold, like metal should be, but slightly warm, like it had body heat. I wasn't exactly sure how it worked, it had just pinned itself into my arm and worked just like my old one. One of the Hephaestus kids, Leo, had examined it thoroughly. He had shown me the wires inside it that had connected themselves into the skin worked with my veins and nerves to make sure I was able to move the arm.

"Hey fam," Raven said, pulling me from my thoughts "Earth to Antonio, you alive?"

"Yeah," I said "Just thinking."

"Don't do that," Raven laughed "It'll give you headaches. Anyways, smoke break?"

"Duh." I laughed

Raven and I headed away from the sword arena, both of us dripping in sweat. Raven had pushed me hard, making sure that I was ready for whatever would present itself to us during this quest. I hadn't seen Eli since he had left, after telling us his girlfriend was pregnant, but I could only assume he was training just as hard as we were. The whole camp knew by now that a child of a daughter of Apollo and the son of Diana was only a month or two away from being born, and the Olympians had mixed emotions about it. Some supported it, others wanted the child executed immediately, claiming that Eli didn't need any distractions.

"J or blunt?" Raven asked me

"I don't have any papers man," I laughed "You don't either, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Raven laughed "Blunt it is then."

He grabbed a bag of bud and a pack of wraps and set to work, doing what he does best. I heard some footsteps outside and the both of us looked up, wondering who could possibly need us at eleven in the morning. Percy and Annabeth, who I had been introduced to almost immediately, entered the cabin hand in hand.

"What are you guys doing?" Percy asked as Jello ran in behind them "Oh wait, nevermind, I see."

"It's smoke break time." I laughed scratching her ears

"It's eleven in the morning," Annabeth said "Should you really be getting high this early?"

"A year ago," Raven said, laying the weed inside the wrap "My ass wouldn't have even been awake right now, ain't no such thing as too early."

"Sure there is," Percy yawned "It's too early to be awake."

We laughed. I had begun to feel at home at camp, something I never thought would happen. I didn't ever think that I would get over having to leave my dad alone, but I did. I still iris messaged him every now and again, and he seemed to be doing fine. He almost had a heart attack the first time he saw me with my new arm.

"What happened to your arm?" He had asked in shock

"Got caught in an explosion, been a half-blood for less than a few weeks," I laughed "And I already lost an arm."

"Is that normal for demigods?" He asked

"Not that I can see," I shrugged "Most people around here have all their limbs in tact."

Once they had finished the Hestia cabin, which took less than a month, I had settled in pretty quickly. My mother came to visit me on occasion, seeing as I was her only child and she didn't have a whole lot more to do. Kids from the Hecate cabin were teaching me to hone my healing ability I had, and I was getting better at channeling it. I often wondered what I'd be doing right now if I wasn't a demigod, but the answer was always the same. Sitting in a boring class, not paying attention, slowly failing school, it's a wonder I had passed as long as I did. Dad usually just let it go, and I never understood why, but now I did. What they were teaching me in those classes, they wouldn't prepare me for what my life really was, what I would really be doing.

"Voila." Raven said, holding up a rolled blunt

He lit it and took a hit, then laid back in his bed. I rose across the room, immediately taking to my duty as DJ. Raven had shown up with a stereo about two months ago and hooked it up next to his bunk, in one of the plugs where usually nothing but a lamp was plugged in. We had spent the next few months gathering CD's and music of all sorts, from Skid Row to MGK.

"Can't wait until Eli sees that," Raven laughed "He's always said I need to get one hooked up in here."

"What about your mother?" Percy asked as I popped an old NWA album in

"The hunters ain't even here often enough to be bugged about it," Raven shrugged, passing me the blunt as I sat down "She won't care, probably."

"I think she might if you start playing some of this stuff." Annabeth laughed, holding up a Chief Keef album

"Yeah that's why I got a bunch of eighties stuff," Raven shrugged, letting Jello lay her head down in his lap "Dad used to listen to it all the time, so did I, and Mom even admitted she kind of liked it after all the time she spent with Dad."

"I don't think I've ever met a gang member that listens to old music," Percy laughed "Unless it was rap."

"First for everything." Raven said, taking the blunt as I passed it

I still found it hard to believe nobody minded us smoking, especially inside the cabin of a goddess, and a very temperamental goddess at that. Raven assured me that nobody really messed with him or the things he did, some kids even bought weed off of him which is how he got drachmas or mortal money or sometimes even liquor.

"So, what's the deal?" I asked "We going after that potion when Eli gets here?"

"Well uhhh," Raven said "About that, it's gonna have to wait about a week."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled

"Amber wants me to come down with her when they have their big family reunion next week," He said sheepishly "We're leaving on Thursday morning and we'll be back Sunday, then we can leave."

"What if somebody else gets to it first?" I asked him

"A maiden in need?" He tried

"I'm sure that might fly with your mother," I laughed "But what about Eli?"

"I'll leave him some bud and cigarettes, he'll be chill." Raven shrugged, passing the blunt

"Well," Percy said "Antonio, I'm free if you want some more training."

"Yeah," I said "Sounds good, I think Raven's out of moves anyways."

"Pretty much," Raven laughed "You know what I know."

Percy and I left the cabin and headed to the arena, our weapons in hand. I found myself thinking, again, about the quest, wondering if I would survive.

Kayla:

I was lying in my bed back at the Apollo cabin, thinking back on the day Eli and I had told my mother I was pregnant. It hadn't gone too well, even by my standards. I remembered how nervous I was as we approached the door, only Eli seemed calm.

"Mom is going to kill me." I said, knocking on the door

"You'll be fine," Eli said "Trust me."

"I do." I said as my mother opened the door

"Oh!" She exclaimed "Kayla! I was beginning to think you'd never get here. And this must be Eli, right?"

"Yeah," He said "Eli Alistair, son of Diana."

"Delilah Whitaker," She said, ushering us inside the apartment "I'm Kayla's mother just in case you hadn't already figured that out."

"Mom," I said as we entered the living room and sat down "We need to talk."

"Oh yes," She agreed "We have so much catching up to do. I was beginning to think I'd never meet you Eli, Kayla's been being so secretive, especially the last few weeks. And Kayla, I talked to Beru earlier, she'd like you to come and visit at some point this summer, she hasn't seen you since you were in diapers and-"

"Mom, I'm pregnant." I blurted out

She stopped talking suddenly, and her mouth dropped open. She was looking back and forth between Eli and I, almost silently begging us with her eyes to jump up and shout APRIL FOOLS or something, but we didn't. I immediately wished I hadn't just said it like that, I should have eased her into it.

"Oh real subtle." Eli muttered

"Shut up." I hissed, elbowing him

"And you're the father?" She asked Eli

"Yeah." He said

"It was the last night of the battle," I explained "We were a little drunk and-"

"You were drinking?" She demanded, then she turned on Eli "You let her drink?"

"Well I'd had a few myself," Eli said "But that's beside the point."

"Beside the point?" My mother demanded "Kayla, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"It was a mistake!" I yelled at her "I admit that, but if anybody is going to be the father of this baby, I'd rather it be Eli and not some other random asshole!"

"You're sixteen!" She exploded "We shouldn't even be having this conversation at all! I was willing to overlook your boyfriend being a Blood, I was willing to overlook all of the drug dealing or whatever it is gang bangers do! But this is just too far!"

"Hey, hold on a fucking minute!" Eli said, his temper rising "I may have been a bad person before, but I'm trying to change! I'll be a better father to this baby than mine was to me, I'm not just some two bit, low life, dead beat, gang banger!"

"You want to be a better father?" She demanded "Leave then! Leave and never see Kayla again, let her raise that baby with someone better than you, anyone else! People like you don't deserve to be a parent!"

That comment stung Eli more than anything anybody had ever said to him, and it was very clear by the look on his face. His eyes were showing a very clear battle between kill my mother and walk away, and he chose the latter.

"Eli wait!" I called after him as he stormed out of the living room

"No!" He roared, turning on me at the door "I'm not the same person I used to be, you know that, and that's all that matters to me! I could give a fuck what she thinks!"

And with that, he slammed the door. I heard his footsteps all the way down the hall, before they faded away. I turned back to my mother, making sure the anger was showing on my face. She had a smug look on her face, as though she had won, but she hadn't.

"Thanks," I spat at her "Eli's is going to be a great father, you'll see."

I walked out and headed down to the lobby, knowing Eli would be outside smoking a cigarette. Sure enough, he was seated on the bench right outside the front door, a lit cigarette in his hand. I had made him promise to quit, and he had been trying, but sometimes he got so stressed he had to smoke one, and this was one one of those times.

"That went well." I said, sitting down next to him

"I'm not a bad person," He said desperately "I'm not."

"I know you're not," I said soothingly, putting my hand on his arm "You're a good person Eli, and you're going to be a good father."

He didn't respond and I reached up and pulled his head into my shoulder, feeling his breathing. I'd never seen Eli this close to breaking down, and I wondered if I soon might be comforting a crying Blood, but he didn't cry. He pulled himself together and flicked his cigarette out, and he didn't say a word the entire way home. It hadn't been a good day for him, especially after he had come back from that quest. He wasn't the same, he seemed to be set off at things much easier than usual.

"Honey!" A voice yelled, jarring me from my thoughts "I'm home!"

"Really Eli?" I laughed, getting out of bed

Eli appeared at my doorway, a big cheesy grin on his face. I threw my arms around him and he held me close, laughing as he did so. He tilted my head back and kissed me, the type of kiss that made a girl realize how lucky she was.

"I missed you," I told him "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," He said "I got you something, by the way."

"Eli," I whined "I'm supposed to get you stuff on your birthday, not the other way around."

"Be happy," He said, kissing me again "That's my birthday present."

I giggled in the way only Eli could make me, and he smiled. Eli's smile was contagious, you couldn't help but follow his mood. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small ring, and I immediately knew what was happening. It was a small gold band with a silver crescent moon on the top, made out of some gem I couldn't identify.

"Eli." I breathed

"My mother gave me this ring a while ago," He said, dropping to one knee "I've been planing this for months."

"Eli." I breathed again, tears beginning to come from my eyes

"Kayla Jessica Whitaker," He said, grinning from ear to ear "Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

"Yes," I said immediately "Yes, absolutely yes."

His grin widened even more and he rose back to his feet, pulling me into another kiss. I let everything float away in that kiss, every worry I had, their quest, the world, my mother, it all just melted away. Eli and I finally broke apart, and it began to sink it, Eli had proposed.

Raven:

"Holy shit!" Antonio said, shocked "Married?"

"Yeah," Eli said, grinning "I can't really believe it either.'

"I'm happy for you bro," I said, clapping him on the back "My baby bro going to get married."

"Fool we was ten minutes apart," Eli laughed "Baby bro my ass nigga."

We all laughed and I passed Eli the blunt, which I had rolled the second he walked in. I immediately knew something was up by the look on his face, and he wasn't exactly hoarding the story. I knew he had been bursting to tell us for months, but he couldn't because he didn't want to take chances on ruining the surprise.

"So you did it then?" A familiar voice asked behind us

My mother and the rest of the hunters stood in the doorway, and Mom had a proud smile on her face. I had been told it was very rare to see my mother smile, and I hadn't observed anything else, but when she did, it was a huge accomplishment.

"Yeah," Eli said "She said yes."

"When's it happening?" Thalia asked as the hunters filed into the cabin

"Two nights from now," Eli said "I talked to Chiron about it on an Iris message a few days ago."

"Camp Half-Blood is going to be the site of the first ever Roman and Greek wedding." Antonio said

"It's a miracle ain't it," Eli laughed "Not even gonna lie bro, I'm really excited."

"Well I hate to bring your mood down," I said "But we're going to have to postpone our little trip we plan on taking."

"Why?" Eli asked

"Amber's got a family thing going on, they're leaving next Thursday morning," I explained "We'll only be gone for the weekend, and we can leave as soon as I get back."

"I don't know man," Eli said "A whole week? Do you realize how much of a head start that gives Ouranos?"

"Yeah, I know," I said "But we know more about it than they do, however far they get, we'll catch up quick."

"I mean, I'm cool with waiting a week," Eli said "It's just, is this really something we want to push off like that?"

"It'll work out, I'm sure," My mother said "After all, a maiden's needs must be put above all else."

"The fate of Olympus though?" Eli asked "I mean, it's kinda important."

"Hey, you heard Mom," I said "Maiden's needs and all that."

"Alright," Eli shrugged "But we're leaving as soon as you get back."

"As soon as I get back." I agreed

Even as I said that, I had the sense that something was going to go wrong, it wouldn't be the first time. I trusted Eli to train Antonio as much as he could, but I had this weird sense about Eli. Something was wrong with him, he wasn't acting like himself.

 **Hey guys, kashoom and boom and all dat, okay so Crip Moon is officially updated, you should go check that out if you're reading this and haven't read the updated version, so viola, here's the chapter. Let's hear those reviews people! I'm out, God bless and love ya'll.**


	2. Chapter 2: Competition

**Aola my brovas! Ain't much to say, read and review, I don't own PJO or HOO but I do own my characters so I love ya'll, God bless, AND WE'RE OFF!**

Chapter 2: Competition

Antonio:

The Romans arrived the next night, ready to celebrate. I had never seen so many demigods in one place, in such a festive mood either. They weren't much different than the Greeks, other than a few differences. I didn't spend a whole lot of time around them, I liked being alone as apposed to being surrounded by people. I usually slipped off to the woods and headed to Zeus's fist once or twice a day and spent some time by myself, except, the day the Romans arrived, one of them followed me.

"Mind if I join you?" I heard Reyna's voice from behind as I lit a cigarette

"Be my guest," I said as she sat down "I have a feeling you'll do so anyways."

"You're probably right," She laughed "It's quiet out here, I like it."

"That's why I come here," I said "To get away, I don't like people."

"Me neither." Reyna admitted

"How can you be a Praetor?" I asked

"I can deal with people," She said "I don't have to like them."

"So how come you followed me?" I asked her

"Well," She said "Raven and I were talking and I saw you slip off, and Raven told me you've been doing that a lot, so I decided to follow you and see what you were up to."

"Well, this is what I'm up to." I said, ashing my cigarette

"I suppose it is," She said "I guess I can leave now that I have my answers."

"You can." I said, taking a hit

But she didn't, she stayed right beside me. I knew that Reyna, above all others, probably needed a break and a chance to get away from things for a little bit, something she was not often given, and had to take full advantage of whenever she was.

"So," I said "Why are you so defensive?"

"What do you mean?" She asked

"Well, I've noticed it every single time I've talked to you," I said "Granted, it's only been a few times, but I've noticed it. You always seem so guarded."

"I'd rather not talk about myself." Reyna said

"And why not?" I asked her

"Because," She said "My past isn't something I like to remember, it wasn't fun."

"I don't see how you have to go into your past to tell me why you're always so guarded." I said

"You Greeks are always so stubborn," She muttered "I forgot how easy it was to deal with Romans compared to you guys."

"Well, I mean, you had something you wanted to find out," I told her "Now I have something I want to find out."

"And you're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want your answers." Reyna said coldly

"What if I said please?" I asked her

"No." She said

"What if I gave you a hug?" I joked

"I'd punch you," She said "And then the answer would still be no."

"What if I gave you some weed?" I asked

"What?" She said, taken aback "No."

"Well, I tried." I said

"Gods," She said "You are slightly annoying."

"And yet you're still sitting here." I said, laughing

Reyna let a small smile come to her lips, something I knew was probably very rare with her. The sun reflected off of her dark, brown hair, and I was struck with how pretty she looked. It wasn't something you notice right away with her, because normally you were focusing on how she always looked like she was about to punch somebody.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked

"Sorry," I said "Not sure why, just kind of spaced out."

"Don't do that." She said, turning her head away from me

"I'll try, your highness." I joked

"Shut up," She said, punching my arm "If you were a Roman, do you realize how badly I would be drilling you right now?"

"Which is why I'm messing with you so much," I laughed "I'm not a Roman, therefore you can't really do anything about it."

"I could beat your ass." She offered

"You could," I laughed "I have no doubt about it, but I'm not gonna hit you back so it'd be a bit one sided."

"Why wouldn't you hit me back?" She asked, confused

"Because, it's not right to hit a girl," I said "Have you never heard that before?"

"No," She said "I haven't."

I didn't say anything, there wasn't anything else to be said. I flicked my cigarette out and Reyna and I sat in silence for a few more minutes. Eventually, Reyna sighed and rose to her feet, offering me her hand. I took it and she helped me to my feet, motioning for me to follow her.

"Come on," She said as she started walking "If we don't get back soon, everybody will think we were making out or something."

"Is that an invitation?" I joked, heading off after her

"Absolutely not," Reyna said, taken aback "How could you-"

"Relax," I said, cutting her off "I was just kidding, calm down."

"Don't joke about things like that." Reyna said quietly

"Never took you for the sensitive type." I muttered

"I'm not sensitive," Reyna protested "I'm guarded, remember? Gods, youare _really_ annoying."

"Hey, you're the one who followed me out here." I reminded her

"I cannot believe that you saved my life." Reyna grumbled

I laughed and we fell silent, continuing the rest of our walk in quiet. We came out of the woods a few minutes later, receiving a couple weird looks, but nobody said anything. I saw an Ares camper lock eyes with Reyna, and a grin broke across his face.

"Ohhhhh," He laughed "Skywalker's getting busy with the Praetor!"

Everybody around him laughed, and I got really angry. It was the kid I had choked, and I was getting tired of being called Skywalker. Reyna caught on immediately as to why they called me that, and she got to him before I could even move. She planted a firm punch to his jaw, and then kneed him in the face, putting him to the dirt. She grabbed her dagger from her belt and shoved the point under his throat, anger apparent on her face.

"Nobody is getting busy with anybody," She growled "And do not, I repeat, _do not_ call him Skywalker again."

He didn't say anything, so Reyna took her knife away and rose to her feet. She turned away from him and walked back towards the Roman camp, indicating for me to follow her. She lead me to the command tent that had been set up, and once we were inside, she turned to me.

"Are you okay?" She asked me "I saw the look on your face, I figured I should take care of him before you did, seeing as one of your arms is metal."

"I'm fine," I said "You didn't have to do that, I wouldn't mind a chance to take care of him, again."

"Again?" Reyna asked

"I kind of cut off the air flow to his brain the last time he called me Skywalker." I told her

"Seems like he would've learned." Reyna said

"Seems like it," I agreed "But I guess not."

"Well, regardless," Reyna said "He shouldn't give you anymore trouble, I guess this makes us even."

"Sure," I laughed "Why not? I guess we're even."

"Good," Reyna said "I hate owing people favors."

Raven:

"Let's get this kid and go," Eli grumbled "I'm really not about no eleven at night demigod grab."

"Neither am I," I admitted "But we gotta get him, so let's just do it quick and go."

Chiron had gotten and urgent message from a Satyr at about ten, something about a demigod with monsters hot on his tail. Eli and I had been dispatched to rescue him before he got killed, and we were moving as fast as we could.

"This is the place," I said, looking around "Where's the Satyr?"

"And the demigod?" Eli asked

We were standing in front of an old, abandoned storage yard just outside Manhattan. This place was very clearly abandoned, and not very well maintained. The Satyr had said this is where they would be, so where were they?

"Hey!" Eli called "If ya'll are here, we friendly homies!"

"Really?" I asked him "We friendly homies?"

"What?" Eli laughed "We are friendly."

"Yeah, but if you announce it, every monster here knows what we are," I reminded him "Which means we're fighting our way out of this, again."

"Hey, we got the last kid out of there." Eli shrugged

"Yeah, and he almost died," I reminded him "Twice, before we crossed the street."

"Well then," Eli said "If you're going to be picky about how the job gets done, then _you_ find this kid."

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I asked, peeking into an old unit

"Nothing bright," Eli said back "Uh oh."

"What?" I asked, coming over to where he was

He nodded inside the storage unit, where a small flower was blooming on the floor. I knew what that meant, dead Satyr. I looked around quickly, trying to find the demigod, but he was nowhere in sight, body or otherwise.

"No body," I said, looking around "Look, there's some dust, so they've put up a fight."

"If there's no body," Eli said "We can assume that this kid is still alive."

"Yeah," I said "Now where's he at?"

We advanced further into the storage yard, both of our weapons drawn. It was unusually quiet, as if the entire world was holding it's breath. There were no sudden flutters of wings, screeches, howls, bangs, nothing. Under normal circumstances, this might've been a good thing, but when you're a demigod, it means something is making an effort to not be seen by you.

"Should've brought some hunters," Eli said "They're good at tracking shit."

"Come on," I said "We're sons of Artemis, we should be able to find this kid in a storage yard."

"Diana." Eli corrected

"Does it matter?" I asked him "She doesn't change much between the two."

"The hell she don't," Eli said "You try having a conversation with Diana verses Artemis and then tell me they ain't two different people."

"I've been around when she turned into Diana," I said "Not much difference. I'm about to just start calling her Dartemis or something full time."

Before Eli could respond, a bang was heard up ahead. Eli and I looked at eachother, and then back towards the bang, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. I nodded and we moved forward, our weapons raised. It had come from inside a closed storage unit, never a good sign.

"We've gotta open it?" Eli guessed "Don't we?"

"Yep," I said, grabbing the door "I'll open it, you shoot if it ain't a demigod."

"What if it is?" Eli asked "And I shoot him?"

"Apologize to whoever his parent is later," I said "Now, you ready?"

Eli nodded and I gripped the door in one hand and my sword in the other, preparing for a fight. I pulled the door open and stepped back, just as a form came flying out from it. The kid was fast, and he had taken Eli off guard. He slammed into him, causing him to drop his bow.

"Get away from me!" The kid yelled, throwing punches at Eli

"Hold up!" I yelled, pulling him off "We're friendly, we're friendly!"

The kid stopped struggling and took a look at us, realizing we weren't monsters. Eli pulled himself up with a grunt, grabbing his bow as he did so. He had a black eye and a bruise on his cheek, and he looked pretty pissed off about it, and I began to wonder if he might hit the kid back.

"Friendly?" He asked "You're who that donkey dude called?"

"Yeah," I said "Actually, we were sent by the guy he called. By the way, it's Satyr and they're half _goat._ Just warning you now because they can get really offended by that one, believe me."

"Who are you?" He asked

"The name's Raven," I told him "Son of Artemis, the guy you punched, that's my brother."

"Eli," He said, rubbing his eye "Son of Diana, nice hit."

"Thanks," The kid said "My name is Tyler Braxton, I have no idea who my parent is."

"Follow us," I said, handing him my gun "And take this for the time being, it has celestial bronze bullets, so it'll kill monsters. Tell us what happened."

"Well, I was at school," He began as we walked "And this teacher turned into this freaky ass I don't know what the hell it was, then this Satyr, as you called him, came by and he attacked it and killed it, then he told me to follow him if I wanted to live. So we go back to my place, he tells my mother I'm a demigod, she explains this whole thing to me, that's why your Dad left, blah blah blah, and then we got chased here while he was waiting on a rescue team, and then we got separated and so I hid in the unit until you guys found me."

"Your Satyr is dead," I told him "Hey, Eli, let's go get him, bring him back with us."

"Alright," Eli shrugged "Whatever you say."

We circled back around the corner and back to the unit with the flower in it, which I pocketed. I figured I'd hand it over to a Satyr back at the camp and let them bury it, however they'd like it done. We turned back the way we came and headed for the exit of the yard, where the rusted out fence was.

"Should I call Ladon," Eli asked "Or do you think there might still be monsters here?"

"On one hand, giant flame breathing dragon attracts attention," I said "On the other hand, the monsters come here and Ladon torches them."

"Call for him it is." Eli grinned

"Dragon?" Tyler asked

"You'll see." I told him

Eli whistled, a high pitched sound that echoed through the night. There was a small silence after he whistled, followed by the sound of massive wings flapping, and then Ladon came into view above us. Tyler's jaw dropped and Eli and I had to laugh, it never got old. Ladon touched down in front of us and lowered his head, wanting Eli to pet him. Eli rubbed his snout, still laughing at Tyler.

"He's massive," He said in awe "Do all demigods just have dragons waiting around on them?"

"Nah," I laughed "Eli just got lucky."

"Lucky my ass," Eli said, mounting Ladon "I flew this guy all around Camp Half-Blood, then did a bunch of other crazy shit, all while hanging onto the scales on his back, I'm a bit more than lucky."

"Yeah," I said, mounting "You're really really lucky."

Eli laughed and Tyler pulled himself on behind us, gripping the side of Ladon's saddle as though he was afraid he might fall, and I couldn't blame him. Ladon took off with a flutter of his wings, and shot into the air. I never got tired of the feeling, it was just an amazing adrenaline rush. Eli flicked Ladon's reigns, and steered him off towards camp.

Raven: 30 minutes later

We touched down inside the sword arena, startling a few demigods. Ladon often stayed in the sword arena whenever Eli visited, and nobody minded, much. It was plenty big enough for him to curl up in the corner and not disturb anybody, and he loved it when Percy's hellhound came to visit. People had taken to placing bets whenever Mrs. O'Leary came around on who would win when her and Ladon started wrestling. I had actually won twenty drachmas and a hundred and fifty mortal dollars from the Stoll brothers betting on Mrs. O'Leary, turns out, Ladon is a really over sized baby.

"Let's get you registered with Chiron and Mr. D," I told Tyler "And then my ass can go to bed."

"Fool," Eli laughed "We smoking first, it's barely midnight."

"Alright," I laughed "I'll smoke, but then I'm going to sleep."

"I'll meet you at the cabin." Eli said

"Take this to the Satyrs," I told him, pulling out the flower "Let them bury it."

Eli nodded and took the flower, heading towards the forest, while Tyler and I headed to find Chiron. He was at the big house, as I assumed he would be. I motioned Tyler to follow me inside, where Amber, Annabeth, Percy, and Chiron were all seated around the old coffee table, having what appeared to be a serious meeting.

"Raven," Chiron said, nodding at me as Tyler and I entered "I trust you have good news to report."

"The Satyr that called you is dead," I told them "Eli is on his way to them now with the flower we found, and this is the demigod, Ty-"

"Tyler?" Amber asked suddenly

"Amber?" He asked, squinting at her

 _Oh you have got to be kidding me,_ I thought _Please if there's any good will in the universe, don't let this be what I think it is._

"You two already know eachother?" Percy asked

"Yeah," Tyler said quietly "We dated once back in eighth grade, almost a year, and then I had to leave for Oklahoma."

"We knew long distance wouldn't work out," Amber finished for him "So we cut it off."

 _FUCK YOU!_ I silently screamed at the Fates, knowing they would probably hear me and get back at me _I DON'T ASK FOR MUCH YOU OLD HAGS!_

"Wait a second," I said, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous waters "If you went to Oklahoma, what are you doing back here?"

"Visiting my mother," He said "I was living with my grandparents, boy is Mom gonna have to pull some excuse out of her ass for this one."

"Well," Chiron said, clearly sensing my mood "My name is Chiron, trainer of heroes and such, our director, Mr. D, isn't here for the moment, but I'm afraid it won't be long before he returns. This is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, most problems you have here can be taken up with them if not me. Now, do you know who your Olympian parent is?"

"Not a clue." Tyler shrugged

I found myself silently praying that it turned out his mother was another fertile daughter of Aphrodite and he was a son of Aphrodite, just like Free. I know you probably think I'm just paranoid and Amber would never leave me in a million years but you didn't see the way she was staring at him, and the way he was staring at her. If he was a son of Aphrodite, well then at least they couldn't date.

"Well I'm sure we'll find out before long," Chiron said "In the meantime, I think it's time I retire. Raven, I trust you can handle anything else that may come up tonight."

"Yeah," I said, trying to keep my feelings off my face so Chiron wouldn't read them "I've got it."

"If you've got it," Percy said, clapping my shoulder "Then I'm going to head to bed."

Annabeth shot me a small look of pity, knowing exactly what was running through my head. I never gave the daughter of Athena credit for how smart she was, even though she was a daughter of the wisdom goddess. She followed Percy out of the room, leaving me alone with Amber and Tyler, who were shooting awkward glances at eachother.

"Ummm, well I guess you two know eachother," Amber said "Tyler, this is my boyfriend, Raven."

"Yeah," I said coldly "We know eachother."

Tyler backed away from me a few inches, shooting a nervous glance at Amber. I knew why he was nervous, and it gave me a small sense of victory to know that Tyler was scared of me. Amber, on the other hand, shot me an angry look, knowing I was pulling the dominant male card on him.

"I'm going to bed," I said, kissing her cheek "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night." She said, an edge to her voice

"Night." I responded, walking out of the room

If he laid one finger on her...

Amber:

"Sorry about him," I told Tyler "He's a bit protective."

"Can't blame him," He laughed "You remember what happened when those guys were hitting on you?"

"Three Sophomores," I laughed "We were in eighth grade, you got your ass kicked."

"Yeah," Tyler said "But it's the thought that counts."

"Not when you have your face slammed into the asphalt," I reminded him "Now come on, I'll take you to the Hermes cabin until you get claimed."

Tyler followed me out of the big house and down the valley into the main center of the camp. He seemed amazed by everything he saw, the forges, the rock wall, the Stoll brothers getting ready to set off a firework inside the Ares cabin.

"What are you two doing?" I asked them, causing them to jump

"Shhh," Travis said "Get down."

"New demigod," I said, indicating to Tyler "This is the example you guys are going to set?"

"Absolutely," Conner said "Kid, get over here, let me show you how to piss Brad off."

"Who's Brad?" Tyler asked, ducking next to them

"Head counselor for Ares," Travis said "Used to be Clarisse, before..."

He trailed off, but he didn't have to finish, even Tyler could tell what had happened just by the way he was talking. I remembered the day Clarisse had died in the battle, Raven had tortured that shape changer in front of all of us, I could never forget it.

"Ummmm," Tyler said "Is this-"

"A good idea?" Connor cut him off, handing him a fire cracker "Probably not, you want to do the honors?"

"What do I do?" Tyler asked

"Light it," Connor said "Then throw it into the cabin."

Before I could tell Tyler just who the enemies he was about to make were, Travis handed him a lighter, and Tyler was too far gone. He lit the firecracker and tossed it right through the open door to the Ares cabin, and a small explosion was heard from inside.

"What the hell!" Somebody yelled from inside "Stolls!"

"Run!" Travis said, snickering

We took off towards the Hermes cabin, all of us laughing. I couldn't help it, and neither could Tyler. He'd always been the mischievous type, which is actually what had brought us together in the first place. I just hoped Raven didn't get too jealous, he wasn't exactly known to think clearly.

 **Hey guys, not much going on, hit that review button. Somebody who is really good at drawing please email me at Percabeth2death and hit that up or PM me on here. I need some like Viria type stuff, but if you don't know who she is googe Viria Percy jackson drawings and look through them. That's all folks, God bless, read and review, love ya'll, I'm out.**


	3. Chapter 3: A wedding and a road trip

**Okay guys, I be back. Not much to say so I'll just get right into it. love ya'll, God bless, please read and review, and we're off.**

Chapter 3: A wedding and a road trip

Eli:

"You ready?" Raven asked me

"Yeah," I said, turning to face him "How do I look?"

"Like you're going anywhere but a wedding." He laughed

Everybody was wearing camp shirts, except for the hunters and gods, who were dressed in their usual attires. Kayla and I weren't really into the whole suits and dresses thing, so we just wore camp shirts and jeans. I hadn't seen Kayla, because Piper had insisted on _that_ tradition about not seeing the bride before the wedding. Raven and Antonio had thrown me a bachelor 'party'which ended up just being us and few other stoners from both Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter just trying to smoke eachother out, not a bad time though.

"Dude," Raven said, looking out the cabin door "Everyone is here man, hunters, demigods, nature spirits, even the gods."

"All of them?" I asked, confused

"The Olympians," He shrugged "Hestia, Mom, Zeus, Mr. D, all them."

Raven turned back around and pretended to fix my tie I wasn't wearing, which made us both laugh. We had both come a long way from the two gang bangers who had pointed guns at eachother when we had first met, we didn't even really dress in our colors much anymore. Although, much to Thalia's dismay, we still sagged our pants, don't think that one will ever go away. I hadn't felt any urges since the other night, and I was beginning to hope that maybe the were just after effects of the battle on the mountain, and they were over.

"You alright?" Raven asked

"Yeah," I said "Just a little nervous."

"Can't blame you," He said "It's a big day man, never thought I'd see it."

"Me neither." I admitted

There was an awkward silence between us before the last thing anybody ever expected would happen happened, a Crip and a Blood hugged. I realized this was actually the first time Raven and I had ever hugged, if you didn't count my mother pulling us into a group hug, which I didn't.

"Let's get your ass married," Raven said when we broke apart "And then, smoke out party."

"That sounds fun." Antonio said, entering the cabin

He was followed by Percy, Jason, and Justin, my groomsmen. I actually hadn't chosen any except Raven, figuring I'd just go up there with a best man and call it done with, but the Aphrodite girls were _not_ having that one. They assigned me more groomsmen, and assigned Kayla a set of bridesmaids. With Amber being the maid of honor, followed by Annabeth, Piper, and a very reluctant Reyna.

"Good weed and good music," I shrugged "I'm down."

"If I wasn't related to Wiz Khalifa," Justin said "I'd drill you man."

"You're related to Wiz Khalifa?" Antonio asked

"Yeah, lots of famous people are demigods," Justin said "Wiz is a son of Ceres, Snoop Dogg is a son of Demeter, MGK is a son of Nemasis, Eazy E is a son of Apollo, Alan Rickman is a son of Hypnos, and Eminem is a son of Ares."

"That really explains so much," Percy said "Especially the Alan Rickman and Eminem thing."

"Don't it," Jason laughed "And Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner is a son/daughter of Janus."

We all busted out laughing, and I doubled over. I know it really didn't make sense, being that Janus isn't really a man _and_ a woman, but it was just the thing behind the joke that made it so funny, being that Janus is kind of like two people.

"Oh my gods," Percy said, recovering himself "That is probably the funniest thing that's ever come out of your mouth."

"I'm pretty proud of that one," Jason grinned "I may have to write that one down, make sure it goes viral."

"You know what you could do?" Percy said

"What?" Jason asked

"Get a pen name, like a fake one," He said "And then write a book, and it'll be like a story of what we did, and you can throw that joke in there somewhere."

"Oh yeah," Jason laughed "We can call it, the Heroes of Olympus."

"What's your pen name?" Justin asked

"Ummmmmmmmm," Jason thought "Rick Riordan." (A/N you guys like that?)

"Perfect." Percy laughed

"Alright," Justin said "Let's get going, we can work the details out on this later."

We recovered ourselves and headed out the cabin door, down the path towards the beach where everybody was gathered. Everybody turned to look at us, cheering when they saw us. We reached Chiron, who was in horse form, standing near the water. I glanced around at the gods, standing in front of the crowd of demigods. My mother gave me a reassuring smile, which I was glad for. I also noticed she had turned into Diana, and wore a formal Roman toga. We didn't have to wait for more than a few minutes before a couple of Satyrs started playing Here comes the bride on their reed pipes.

"Here she comes." Raven said from behind me

I looked up towards the cabins, and I saw Kayla. I caught my breath, she had done something. I couldn't quite place it, her hair, her makeup, something. She was wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt, another size up seeing as she was now very pregnant. Amber, Piper, and Annabeth had smiles on their faces, but Reyna looked as if she'd rather be in the crowd of demigods than walking as a bridesmaid, but the Venus and Aphrodite children weren't very agreeable with her when she protested.

"Reyna looks so pissed." Raven snickered from behind me

"I know," I snickered back "This ain't her thing."

We fell silent as they approached us, and everybody stood up. Kayla stood in front of me, a huge cheesy grin on her face. I smiled back and I felt everyone's eyes on me and I began to get nervous, I hated being the center of attention.

"We are gathered here today," Chiron began "To witness the union of two demigods. A Roman, and a Greek, a son of Diana, and a daughter of Apollo, Eli James Alistair, and Kayla Jessica Whitaker. Lord Apollo, do you give your daughter away to your sister's child, to hold and protect, to love and cherish her for the rest of his life?"

"Absolutely." Apollo said, grinning at me

"Lady Diana," Chiron said "Do you give your son to Kayla, to hold and protect, to love and cherish him for the rest of her life?"

"Yes." My mother said, also smiling

"Have the two of you prepared vows?" Chiron asked

"Oh shit," I muttered "That's what I was forgetting. Kayla, will you go first while I come up with something?"

"Yeah, I guess I can," She laughed "Eli, from the moment I met you, I wasn't sure what to think of you. I didn't know then, when I was showing you how to hold your arm while you were shooting, that I had just met the person I'd want to spend the rest of my life with. I still remember you asking if I wanted to do something together in the middle of the battle, I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard, but it hooked me. We're only teenagers, we shouldn't even have to worry about things like this, but then again, we shouldn't have to worry about prophecies or monsters either, so I guess this isn't exactly the craziest thing we've done. I'm glad it's you, I wouldn't rather it be anybody else, I wouldn't rather be standing here with anybody else. You are the one person I believe I'm meant to be with, and I'm glad I found you before somebody else did."

"Good luck following that one." Raven said from behind me

"Hey," I said, nudging him "How about some confidence in me."

I was aware that all of the demigods and Satyrs and Nymphs were watching us, listening to every word we spoke. I didn't like public speaking, but I had to do it. I cleared my throat, and steeled my nerves, preparing to give my vows.

"I'm not sure when I knew it," I began "But I think it was from the moment I met you, just a little voice in the back of my head telling me this is the person you need in your life. You've kept me balanced, showed me that there _is_ beauty in this world, that there's more outside some block with a bunch of kids selling drugs on a street corner. I've never felt like this about anybody, and I don't think I ever will again. In fact, I hope I don't ever feel like this about anybody else, because that means I've lost you. I'll give you my all, if you'll give me yours."

Kayla had tears in her eyes, as did most of the demigods and nature spirits. My mother kept tears out of her eyes, but she had a proud smile on her face. Chiron cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows, and I nodded, letting him know he could continue.

"Very well," Chiron said "Eli James Alistair, do you take Kayla to be your wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I said, without hesitation

"Kayla Jessica Whitaker," Chiron said "Do you take Eli to be your husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Kayla said, her smile widening

"Then, by the power given to me by the gods of Olympus," He said "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may, how the mortals say, kiss the bride."

I took Kayla by the hand and pulled her close, well guided is more accurate, she kinda met me halfway. I leaned down and her lips touched mine, and the entire camp erupted in cheers.

Raven:

I let out a wolf howl, throwing my arm around his neck and both of us jumping up and down to the music. Why were we acting so crazy? Simple, my brother had just gotten married about four hours ago, and we were partying. Most of the campers had dispersed away from the party outside, and Kayla had headed to bed, so Eli and I invited as many smokers as we could find back to the cabin to get baked. Our mother had cleared out nearly thirty minutes earlier, knowing how crazy we were about to get. I popped in an old Eminem album and lit up, then somebody found my liquor so then the night just picked up.

"Yo dawg," Eli laughed, sitting down "I'm too drunk for this shit."

"No such thing," Robby laughed, taking another swig "Who has the blunt?"

"I got it," Antonio said, passing it "Damn man, crazy night."

"It ain't over yet," Alex said "The night is young, and the women are beautiful."

"Fool you couldn't get laid at an A$AP Rocky party," Eli laughed "Let alone at Camp Half-Blood."

"This is an absolute sausage fest," Thomas complained "Will somebody please go get some girls?"

"Will I do?" A voice sounded from the doorway

We all turned to see Reyna leaning on the door frame, her arms crossed. At least four of the guys in here, including Thomas, were Romans, so I understood why they became very suddenly awkward. Alex, on the other hand, was all for it.

"Yes you will," He said smoothly, getting up and crossing the room to her "How ya doing baby? Alex Townly, son of Hermes. And you are-"

"Not here to sleep with any of you," Reyna said, shoving past him "I'm here because there's nothing else to do, I'm not really that tired, and it sounded like everybody was having fun in here."

"You didn't come to shut it down, did you?" Eli asked, taking the blunt from Robby

"No," She said "Just to enjoy it."

"Well unless you smoke or drink I don't think you'll have much fun." Antonio said

"What?" Reyna asked "I can't just come listen to the music?"

"You?" Thomas asked "You listen to Eminem?"

"Not all the time," Reyna shrugged "But he's alright."

We all shrugged and went back to what we had been doing, but Thomas, Robby, Jake, and Sam looked really uncomfortable smoking and drinking around Reyna, seeing as she was their superior. Eli, however, had no problem with it and threw back another shot and passed the blunt to me.

"This thing is almost done," I said, taking it "Somebody get me a bowl."

"Where's it at?" Sam asked, looking around

"Take your pick," Eli laughed "There's bound to be one or two laying around here somewhere."

Alex handed me a bowl and I tossed the roach into it, lighting it. After it was done I sat the bowl down and took a seat on one of the beds, laying back. We had scooted one of the bunk beds to a position right across from mine, effectively making a circle, with a table for rolling joints in the middle. I pulled myself to the top bunk, where Antonio was seated next to Reyna. There was something weird between the two of them, but I was probably imagining it.

"Damn!" Eli laughed as the song changed "I ain't heard this song since the shit came out."

"Is this Traffic?" Antonio asked

"Yeah," Eli said, bumping to the song "Lil Reese."

"You know what song I ain't heard in forever?" I laughed "Gang in this bitch."

"Do you got that song?" Eli asked

"Probably somewhere, these are mostly mixed CD's." I shrugged

"Mixed?" Reyna asked "Meaning?"

"Meaning we could be listening to NWA and then when the song changes it'd be Led Zeppelin or something." I laughed

"I like Led Zeppelin," Thomas said "Good band to vibe to."

"For sure." I agreed

"Alright," Antonio said "That weed hitting me bro, I'm gonna go lay in my cabin and trip for a while."

"Later." Eli said as he walked out

He waved to us as he exited the cabin, leaving us one smoker short. Antonio never smoked to get fucked up, he always just smoked to get mellow and then went somewhere quiet to trip for a bit, I couldn't blame him, it was a chill way to be, I did it sometimes. I looked over at Eli, who was staring at the ring on his finger. A plain gold band, that's all it was. I didn't expect him to wear the ring he had proposed with, but I figured he'd get something besides a gold band, but he and Kayla both just had a plain gold band.

"Married," Eli muttered "I still can't believe it."

"Me neither bro," I said "Me neither."

Amber: The following week

"Are you awake?" I asked Raven as he bumped his head on the car door

"Not really," He shrugged "Didn't think we'd be waking up this early."

We were leaving for Alabama, and Raven was not very aware of his surroundings, being that it was six in the morning. We had stayed at my parent's house the night before so we didn't have to go to camp first, and we would be on the road forty five minutes earlier. We got into my Dad's old Saturn, and he drove off without wasting any time. Raven took the opportunity to go back to sleep, using his backpack as a pillow. Raven was a skilled packer, he knew how to pack weeks worth of supplies into a single backpack, plus a little weed for the road, which I guaranteed he had.

"Wow," Dad said, looking back at us "He must be tired."

"He's not used to waking up this early," I said, gripping his hand "Normally, early for him is like, noon."

"Oh he's going to hate your grandmother," Grace said "You remember when you were little, and she would come and get everybody up at seven in the morning sharp?"

"Oh gods," I moaned "I really hope she doesn't do that, I hated waking up that early."

We all laughed and then fell silent, I leaned over onto Raven and his arm instinctively around me. I listened to his breathing until I drifted off to sleep myself, and I found myself thinking about Raven and I. I couldn't imagine myself with anybody else, but now Tyler was back. There used to be a time where I couldn't imagine myself with anybody but him, and now I was torn between a thug and a nice guy. Normally that wouldn't be much a contest, but Raven had been good to me, better than any other guy I'd ever been with. Sure he wasn't always a good person, but who he was now mattered more to me than who he used to be.

"Amber," Dad's voice voice tore through my thoughts "Wake up."

I hadn't even realized I fell asleep, but I pushed myself up. Dad was holding out a breakfast wrap, which I took gladly. I looked around and realized we were in a Taco Bell drive-thru, pulling out the front. I opened the wrap and bit into it, sitting up fully.

"Here," Dad said, handing me another one "Wake Raven up and give him one, we've got a bunch more if you guys are hungry."

"Raven," I said gently, shaking him "Wake up."

"Shit," He muttered "We there?"

"No," I said "Not yet."

"Then let me sleep." He muttered back

"Raven," I said, slapping his face with the wrap "Food."

His head shot up and looked around rapidly, searching for food. I held out the wrap, laughing. He grinned and took it, tearing it open and biting into it, killing it in about a minute. Dad tossed him back the bag and he took another one, then a dark look crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, sensing something

"I get this feeling something is gonna go wrong," He told me "Eli hasn't been acting like himself."

"You noticed that too?" I asked him

"Of course I noticed it," He said "I've talked to him on an Iris message a lot, and then especially seeing him in person, he just isn't right."

"Look," I said, putting my hand on his arm "I'm sure he'll be fine, he's probably just nervous about this whole prophecy thing."

"I hope that's all it is," He said "I really do."

 **Alright ya'll, read and review, God bless, I'm out. PLEASE REVIEW FOR REAL GUYS!**


	4. Chapter 4: Betrayal

**Kaboom guys, who is doing what? Don't nobody care, shut up and read. nah I'm kidding, I love you guys, PM me and tell me what you're up to, fr. It's gonna be funny in like five years I'll be getting PM's from people telling me what they're doing and I'll just be like wtf and not remember this. Anyways, God bless, read and review, LES GET IT!**

Chapter 4: Betrayal

Raven:

I was pulled from my sleep by Amber shaking me, and I jolted awake. She laughed and pointed out the window, indicating for me to look. There were people gathered outside of a cabin, with a giant lake right behind it, glass windows, new deck, the kind of things I always wished I had. I opened the car door and stepped out, rubbing sleep out of my eyes.

"Oh Amber!" An old woman laughed, running to the car "I haven't seen you since you were a baby, and who is this handsome young man?"

"This is my boyfriend," Amber said, coming around the other side "Raven, this is my Aunt Sarah."

"Oh my, how you've grown!" She exclaimed, pulling Amber into a hug "Your Uncle Gerry is inside, napping, as usual."

"Not much different," Amber laughed, hugging her back "This is Raven, he's going to stay with us."

"Well," She said, also hugging me "Welcome to our home, for the next few days at least, how did you two meet?"

"Camp." Amber whispered

"Ohhhh," She said, nodding her understanding "You're a demigod?"

"Yeah," I said "Ummmm, Amber told you about us?"

"Actually, Oscar did," She said "Only a few of us, me, Gerry, and a few others. So, who is your parent, on the godly side I mean?"

"Artemis." I said

"Artemis?" She laughed "No, really, who?"

"I'm serious," I told her "You are standing in front of the one and only son of Artemis, if you don't count my brother but he's a son of Diana so I don't."

"Brother?" She asked

"Long, very complicated story," Amber said "But Raven is a son of Artemis, I promise you."

"My goodness," She said "Of all the things I thought I'd hear."

"Pretty much my reaction to it all." I shrugged

She laughed and motioned for us to follow her, heading back towards the house. Oscar and Grace grabbed their bags and followed us, watching Amber and I closely. I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, but I pushed it aside for now, I wasn't here to worry about everything.

"Raven," Amber said as another old guy walked up "This is my grandfather, Grandpa this is my boyfriend, Raven."

"How ya doing?" He asked, shaking my hand

"Not too bad," I said "Been better, been worse, can't really complain much."

"I know all about that," He laughed "Come on inside."

We followed him inside where the rest of the family was waiting for us, smiling and laughing and hugging everybody, it made me wonder how different my life might've turned out if I had these things. Amber must've seen the look on my face because she took my hand and gave me a reassuring smile, which I tried to return, but it probably just came out more of a grimace.

Eli:

Saturday, Raven would be coming back tomorrow night, and then we could finally leave. I didn't want to leave, because Kayla was literally any day now away from giving birth, but we had already pushed this back as far as we could, the only thing I could hope for was that we'd be back before it happened. I had helped to train Antonio the best I could, and his skills were growing. He could now use those flames he had used to heal Raven back on the mountain, and he could use them at will, thanks to the Hecate cabin. My mother had taken her hunters and left the night before, after making me promise I would behave myself.

"Are you okay?" Kayla asked, pulling me from my thoughts

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her "I'm fine, just worried."

"I wish you didn't have to go," Kayla said "I really wish you didn't."

"Me too," I told her, rubbing her stomach "I don't want to miss this, but we've pushed this back further than I think it should have been already."

"I know," She said "I understand, I just hope you make it back to see it."

"I took child development just for the easy credit," I laughed "I've seen live birth videos, I'm not really ready to see it in real life."

This made Kayla laugh, which eased both of our worries a little bit. The truth was, Kayla was literally any day from giving birth, I wouldn't be making it back to see it if it didn't happen before we left. As I was having the thought, Kayla suddenly cried out in pain, and grabbed her stomach, doubling over.

"Cramps?" I asked her, putting my hand on her back

"No," She gasped "My water just broke."

 _Oh shit,_ I thought _This is really happening._

"Come on." I said, picking her up

I carried her in my arms as quickly as I could to the infirmary, which was actually mostly empty for once. Will Solace was sitting on the porch reading a copy of some hunting magazine when he saw us, and he immediately knew what was happening.

"There's a bed in the back, quickly." He said, waving for us to follow him

We ran into the infirmary, moving as quickly as we could with a pregnant girl in my arms. Will got us to the back alright and I laid her down on the bed while Will ran outside to get some more help. I heard him calling for Chiron and more medics from the Apollo cabin, and I held Kayla's hand while she cried out in pain. Will came back in a few minutes later, Chiron, in wheelchair form, behind him, and a few more Apollo campers.

"Let's do this." Will said

They got her legs propped up, and Will started taking her through breathing exercises, giving her little bites of ambrosia or a drink of nectar here and there. She gripped my hand tighter than she ever had, screaming in pain at this point.

"Eli," She said "Eli, it's happening, right now."

"I know," I replied, gripping her hand back "It turns out I will be here after all."

She forced out a laugh through the pain but then she cried out again, almost squeezing my hand off. I couldn't believe that this was really happening, that she was actually about to give birth to _my_ child. All these months that she was pregnant, it didn't really seem real to me until this very moment. I knew it was going to be a long night, but I intended to be here for every minute of it.

Eli: Twelve hours later

"Damn," Raven said "Wish I could be there."

"Yeah, it's hectic up here," I told him "I can't talk long, just figured I'd let you know. We've been at this for about twelve hours or so now."

"You'll be at it for a bit more," Amber laughed "Birth can take a while."

"She smacked the shit out of Antonio." I laughed

"No," Raven said in disbelief "Why?"

"Will told him to stand there and say how much she'd dilated, but he instead of saying like one centimeter or two centimeters," I explained "He just kept saying "She's bigger, she got bigger again, and again," and then Kayla was like "Antonio, come here," so he did and she just slapped his ass."

"I would've slapped him too." Amber said

I heard Kayla cry out again, and this time, it sounded like there was another cry mixed in. I had to get back in there, and quickly. Raven had heard it too, and he nodded to me, indicating for me to go. I slashed my hand through the connection and bolted back inside, where Kayla was still laying down, screaming in pain. I ran to her side and took her hand again, stroking her hair.

"It'll be over in just a minute," I told her "Wait a second okay?"

"I know," She cried "I'm trying."

"Okay, I see it," Will said "She's crowning, push."

Kayla's face turned red with effort, but she pushed and pushed. Will was trying to help get the baby out of there, but he was having a hard time, from what I could here, that baby was having _none_ of it. I gripped Kayla's hand again, making sure she still knew I was there.

"He's almost out!" Will said "Kayla, push one more time!"

She did, and she cried out louder than she had all twelve hours, then her face relaxed and she inhaled a relieved gasp of air. I looked over at Will, who stood up, a baby in his arms. He snapped at one of the other Apollo campers, who rushed forward with a blanket, which he wrapped around the baby, and then handed to Kayla.

"Oh my gods," She whispered, taking him "Eli."

"I know," I laughed "Kayla, we did it, well, mostly you but I was here for morale support."

"It's a boy," Chiron said, a smile on his face "The first ever _grandchild_ of Diana."

"She'll be pissed," I laughed "The last thing she wants is another boy in the family and-oh fuck, I forgot to tell my mother you were giving birth."

"How do you forget that?" Will asked me

"Well," I said "When your wife is giving birth like right then, anybody who isn't here kinda just gets forgotten about."

"We'll worry about your mother later," Kayla said "What should we name him?"

"Well, let's say he takes my last name," I told her "You choose his first and his middle name."

She thought for a moment, perhaps realizing that whatever she chose here and now would affect this kid for the rest of his life. He had stopped crying and was now looking at Kayla and I with a mixture of curiosity, as though we were not what he was expecting when he came out. I had developed this theory that all babies thought they were going to be attacked by monsters and eaten when they came out, and that's why they threw such a fit about it and fought it so much.

"Brady," Kayla said, smiling at the baby "Brady Elijah Alistair."

"I love it," I said, grinning "He's gonna be a great hunter."

"He looks just like you." Chiron said

"Here," Kayla said, holding the baby out to me "Hold him."

I took him cautiously, afraid to drop him. He looked at me in amazement, as though he couldn't believe I was his father. I couldn't help but smile, I still couldn't believe it, I was a father. It sank in slowly and I realized that this was my son, this was _my_ son, not just somebody's baby they had handed to me, this was Kayla and I's.

"That's your daddy." Kayla whispered to him

He made a small gurgling sound and closed his eyes, clearly tired from the effort of being born. I handed him back to Kayla and straitened up, brushing off my shirt.

"I'll go call Mom," I said "I kinda feel like an asshole that I forgot to tell her."

"Yeah," She laughed "Go ahead. Will, how long will I have to stay in bed?"

"A few days maybe," Will shrugged "After that, we can move you guys back to the Apollo cabin."

I gave Kayla a kiss and walked out, heading towards the Artemis cabin. I knew Mom would be upset I hadn't called, you only really ever got one chance to see your grandchild born. I walked in and grabbed a drachma, popping it into the fountain.

"Show me the goddess Artemis," I said "Probably in the woods somewhere maybe."

An image began to form, and finally it came into focus. My mother was sitting on a log around a fire, all the hunters with her. They were talking, laughing, eating, doing hunt stuff. I cleared my throat and my mother looked up, jumping in shock. The rest of the hunters fell silent, realizing that I was there.

"Eli?" She asked "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," I told her "I just kind of, ummm, forgot to call you and let you know earlier."

"Let me know what?" She asked

"Kayla, she uhhhh, just had the baby." I said sheepishly

"What?" She said, jumping up "And you didn't tell me?"

"I forgot," I said "Sorry, anyways, he's sleeping right now, but yeah, he's here."

"So it's a boy?" She asked

"Yep," I shrugged "Sorry, I know you probably wanted a girl."

"I'm on my way," She said "Girls, pack your things."

"You don't have to come all the way down here." I told her

"Oh nonsense," She said, waving me off "I'm only a few miles away, besides, I would like to see him."

"Alright then," I shrugged "See you in a bit, I guess."

She swiped her hand through the transmission, cutting it off. I sighed and turned back to leave the cabin, and suddenly, I was in pain. My head exploded, not literally but it was like two massively powerful beings were having a fight to the death inside my head.

 _We know where it is,_ A metallic voice in my head hissed _We know where it is, we must retrieve it!_

 _STOP!_ I thought forcefully _I don't know who or what you are, but I want you OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!_

The voice fell silent and the pain subsided, and I realized I was lying on the floor. I had to talk to somebody, I needed help. My first instinct was Reyna, but what could she do? Maybe Chiron, no, he'd go to the gods, and I didn't need them knowing about this, not all of them at least. My mother could possibly help me, and she wouldn't tell the others if I asked her, I would talk to her when she got back.

Artemis:

I arrived only an hour later, to find Eli and Kayla in the infirmary, alone, sleeping. Kayla was sleeping in a bed, with a baby held close to her. Eli was sitting in a chair, Kayla's hand in his own, his head slumped forward, passed out.

"Eli," I said, shaking him gently "Wake up."

He didn't move, and I stood up, stumped. I didn't want to risk waking the baby, or the mother for that matter. The rest of the hunters had headed to the cabin except for Thalia and Maya, who insisted on accompanying me to see the baby.

"May I, milady?" Thalia asked, indicating to Eli

"Be my guest." I said, not sure what she was doing

She carefully took Eli's hand and disconnected it from Kayla's, and still, Eli didn't move. Suddenly, Thalia drew back, and struck him hard across the face, causing him to suddenly jerk awake and jump to his feet, looking around frantically.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Thalia giggled

"That hurt," He whispered, glancing back at Kayla "Sorry, she's sleeping, so's Brady."

"We'll see them in the morning then," I said, smiling "Come then, we'll go back to the cabin."

He rubbed his eyes and followed us back to the cabin, trying to to fall asleep as he walked. I knew he must've been exhausted, and I tried to keep him awake. We entered the cabin and headed to our individual beds, some of the hunters were already asleep, others were simply lying in their beds, waiting for us.

"Eli," I said as he stumbled "Go lie down."

"I-" He said, coughing

He suddenly dashed to the bathroom and fell to his knees, making violent retching sounds. I ran to the bathroom after him, wondering what had happened. He was on the floor, attempting to push himself up, clearly in a lot of pain.

"Eli," I gasped, grabbing him "Are you alright?"

"No," He coughed "Mom, I'm-"

His voice trailed off, and he struggled to get his breath back. I pulled him to his feet and helped him to his bed, Thalia and a few other hunters helped pull the sheets back. I laid him down and put his blankets on his shivering form, and he struggled the whole way.

"Mom, no," He protested "No, I've got to tell you something-"

"In the morning," I said quietly "I'll call Apolo and have him check you out, and you can tell me all about it."

"No," He said, trying to get up "Mom listen to me-"

"Sleep." I said forcefully, waving my hand over his face

"Mom, I feel-" He said, falling to sleep "I feel like I wan't to-"

His voice trailed off and his head dropped, as he succumbed to sleep. I wondered what he was about to say, I wondered if it might've been important. I wanted to know what had happened to him, it was obvious he was sick, but it had been so sudden. I decided to go to sleep and worry about it in the morning, when I was more alert.

Eli:

My mother's spell knocked me out for five hours, or somewhere around that time frame, but it couldn't keep me down forever, and when I came to, I was ready to go. I had been fully conscious, yet unable to move, for the past five hours. Whatever this thing was, it had overthrown my mother's powers and simply incapacitated me.

"I know where it is," I muttered, sitting up "I know where it is, I know where it is, I know where it is."

 _We need to move,_ The voice spoke, his metallic tone filled with excitement _Fast._

I grabbed my bow and knives off the ground by my bed, throwing my arrows onto my back as I moved. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, it was like I was really really high, I just wasn't registering the things I was doing. Just as I was about to turn away and leave the cabin, a voice made me freeze in my tracks.

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked

I turned, hoping I was just crazier than I thought, but no such luck. Thalia was out of bed, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, her head cocked sideways like it got when she was thinking. Her electric blue eyes shone out of the darkness, and they scanned me, up and down, knowing something was up.

"I'm just heading to the archery range for a bit," I lied "Go back to bed."

"Yeah," Thalia said "Somehow, I just don't believe that, what are you doing Eli?"

"I told you nothing." I growled, my voice suddenly filled with irritation

"Why don't you get back to bed," Thalia said, advancing casually "You're not well."

"I'm fine," I said, attempting to move around her "Don't worry about me."

"You're not," She said, stepping in front of me "You're not acting right, something's wrong with you."

At this point, some of the hunters, including my mother, began to stir and look around for the cause of the commotion. When they saw Thalia and I, they froze, sensing the tension in the air. My mother slowly rose from her bed, eyeing me.

"Eli-" She began

I couldn't allow them to stop me, so I did the only thing that came naturally, I attacked. I sent a burst of silver light right into Mom, knocking her off of her feet. Thalia, who was so shocked, couldn't even fight back when I picked her up by the throat and tossed her to the side, crashing through one of the bunk beds. I bolted from the cabin, heading for the barrier as quickly as I could, needing to get away.

"Quickly!" A hunter yelled from behind me "Somebody stop him!"

As I exited the main part of camp, bells began ringing, sounding alarms. I broke away from the cabin area and headed towards Thalia's pine tree, intending to leave. I couldn't take Ladon, this journey was not for him, it wasn't for me either, but I had seen what the others could not, and they would lock me away if I tried to tell them otherwise, this was the best way.

Reyna:

I found Antonio sitting alone, again. This time, he was on the roof of the Vesta (Sorry, Hestia) cabin. I couldn't sleep, so I had left my tent, thinking maybe if I walked around I could clear my head a bit. I wore a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans with an old pair of tennis shoes, downgrading from my usual Praetor's attire I always wore.

"Can't sleep?" A voice above me asked

Okay, so maybe I didn't find him so much as just happen to walk by him and he decided to speak up. I glanced up at him, grinning down at me.

"No," I told him "Not having much luck."

"Me neither," He said, offering his hand "Wanna come up?"

I shrugged and grabbed his hand, letting him pull me onto the roof with him. I had no idea how he had gotten up there in the first place, but the roofs of cabins seemed a popular spot for forbidden demigods to hang out at Camp Half-Blood. It's where Raven and Eli often were, I had seen Percy on his more than once, Jason often sat on top of the Zeus cabin with Thalia if they were here at the same time.

"Beautiful night," He said awkwardly, sitting down "Wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah," I said, sitting beside him "It is."

"Did you see Kayla and Eli's baby?" He asked

"Yeah," I said, smiling "Looks just like Eli, doesn't he?"

"It's pretty clear." He agreed

I said nothing, not sure what more I could add. I had such a hard time understanding why Antonio and I were so awkward around eachother. I mean, sure I'm not really a people person, sure I don't exactly scream conversational, but this was totally different. It seemed, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't just have a normal conversation.

"So," Antonio said "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"I guess so." I permitted

"How come you're single?" He asked "It seems like everybody of importance has someone in their lives around here, Percy's got Annabeth, Eli's got Kayla, Jason's got Piper, Frank's got Hazel, Raven's got Amber, hell, even Leo's got Calypso, it just seems like having a relationship is an initiation of power around here or something."

"Not for all of us," I muttered "I choose to be, I don't like being hurt, as I've been for most of my life."

"It doesn't always hurt," Antonio said "Sometimes it's alright."

"Well, I won't find it here," I told him "Venus told me long ago, no demigod will heal your heart."

"Maybe you're misinterpreting it," He said "If there's one thing I've learned in the short time I've been here, it's that what a god says usually ends up meaning exactly the opposite of what you thought it meant."

"I don't understand how," I said "It seems like she was pretty clear."

Antonio shrugged and fell silent, but he had hit home for me. I had been wondering that myself for a long time, longer than I should be. Why did everybody else seem to have somebody and I was always alone? I wasn't exactly in a hurry to fall in love with somebody, but I would've liked to meet somebody who genuinely cared for me so that I didn't have to be on my own through it. Antonio was actually the only one I'd ever really talked to about this, which shocked even me.

"Maybe you're right," I said, thinking about what he had said "Maybe I am misinterpreting it. What do you suggest I do?"

What the hell was I doing? Asking for advice from someone I barely knew, I was crazier than I thought. Antonio thought for a moment, and I could tell that he too was shocked I had asked. Finally, he shrugged and spoke.

"Let what happens happen," He said "Dad always used to say that their was no use worry about things beyond our control, Venus says a demigod won't heal your heart, then maybe they won't."

"I don't know what else it could possible mean." I said

"Well, it could mean a _demigod_ won't heal your heart," He said "Or it could mean a demigod won't _heal_ your heart, just for starters."

"What?" I asked, completely lost

"No idea," He shrugged "I'm stoned, just trying to help."

"Well stop," I laughed "It's giving me a headache."

"I'll try," He laughed "But-"

"Quickly!" A voice rang out suddenly "Somebody stop him!"

Antonio and I jumped up, looking around. I saw Eli sprinting across the camp, closely followed by hunters. I started looking around for a monster, they had to be chasing something. I saw nothing, and Antonio and I jumped off the roof, and Antonio grabbed his swords from the doorway of the Hestia cabin, taking off after them.

"What's going on?" Antonio asked as we met up with a group of hunters joining in the chase

"I don't know," One of them said "Eli just attacked Thalia and then took off, something's wrong."

"Eli did what?" I asked, confused

She didn't respond, but she didn't have to. I couldn't believe that Eli would've attacked Thalia, and yet here he was running from hunters, something that wasn't like him. We closed in on a spot where the hunters were converging, their weapons readied.

"Stop!" I yelled "Stand down! What's happening?"

Eli had broken free and had been cut off by Nico and Gwen, who were attempting to stop him. The five hunters who had given chase had all caught up and fired arrows, but Eli dodged them, sending a wave of silver light at us. Antonio grabbed me and pulled me to the side just as it swept into us, knocking down the hunters.

"Eli!" Gwen yelled "What are-"

She stopped suddenly as Eli ducked behind her, and plunged his knife into her back. She stood straight up in shock, and then fell as he ripped the blade out. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, this whole thing had to be a dream. I saw Chiron galloping up as fast as he could, a few demigods struggling to keep up behind him.

"Eli!" He yelled

"Gwen!" Nico cried, running to her "No!"

We rushed in as Eli made another run for it, calling for medics. Chiron stared around in disbelief, just as shocked as the rest of us. Gwen was lying in Nico's arms as tears fell from his eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Gwen." Nico whispered

"Nico," She whispered back, straining with effort "Nico, I lov-"

Her voice trailed off and her hand went slack, her head dropping back. Nico stared at her, tears falling freely now. He shook her, called her name, begged her to come back, but she didn't. Then, suddenly, the despair was replaced with anger, and he stood, grabbing his sword.

"Eli!" He yelled after the fleeing Roman "I'll kill you!"

He ran at him, yelling a battle cry that would've made me run for the hills, but he never even got close. Eli whipped his bow out, drawing back an arrow, and letting it go, right into Nico's chest. It had happened faster than anybody could react, and by now, Artemis had joined us, staring at the two fallen demigods as her son disappeared into the forest.

"Nico!" Percy yelled, shoving past me

We gathered around the fallen son of Hades, who was coughing and spitting up his own blood. Hazel was just behind us, and sank down at the side of her brother, gripping his hand. I still couldn't believe what I had just witnessed, but I had seen it with my own eyes, Eli had betrayed us, or so it seemed.

"Nico," Hazel said "Nico, my gods, Nico."

"Gwen," Nico said, tears still falling from his eyes "Eli killed Gwen."

"Eli did what?" Percy asked, shocked "Nico-"

"I know what I saw," He said angrily "They saw it too, Percy, you have to-"

"Be still," Will Solace said, kneeling next to him "Nico, I don't-"

"I'm not gonna make it," Nico coughed "I know."

"Nico." Hazel said, tears now falling from her eyes as well

"Don't cry," He said gently "Hazel, I'll be with Gwen again, that's all I want."

"Nico, you can't-" Hazel began

"Can't what?" Nico coughed "Die? It's what we do, Hazel, it's what we all do."

And with that, Nico's voice began to trail off, and he let his head fall to the grass. His breathing was beginning to grow ragged, and Will was desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail.

"Gwen." Nico whispered, finally succumbing to the arms of death

 **I know you guys all hate me, and maybe I deserve it, but come on. PLOT TWIST! I know it isn't just a book, it's a lifestyle, it's a billion emotions packed into one chapter, believe me I understand that, it's how I felt through the entire Percy Jackson series, but let me write my own book okay? Read and review, and spread the word. Love you guys, God bless.**


	5. Chapter 5: Another damn prophecy

**Hey guys, how's it going? I'm super right now, fantastic, so guys not much to say, without further ado, kaboom.**

Chapter 5: Another damn prophecy

Raven:

"What do you mean?" I demanded "Eli betrayed us?"

"He attacked me," Thalia said angrily "He killed Gwen and Nico, what the hell did you think I met?"

"But-" I protested

"Raven, I saw it," Antonio vouched "I didn't want to believe it, but I saw it with my own eyes."

"No," I said "There's got to be some sort of explanation."

"There isn't!" Thalia shouted "Eli has betrayed us, Raven! Get that through your head!"

"I'm coming back to camp," I said "We'll figure this out, send Ladon to me."

"On it." Antonio said, walking out of view

"Thalia, we'll talk more," I said, swiping my hand through her "But this is some sort of trick, something else is going on."

Thalia disappeared and I left the back room, knowing I had to tell Amber. I would have to come up with some excuse to leave for the rest of the family, trouble at home, my brother's gone missing, not exactly far from the truth.

"Amber," I said, bumping into her just outside "Listen, I have to go, Ladon's on his way."

"What?" She asked, shocked "Why?"

I explained what Thalia and Antonio told me, as best I could understand it. The longer I continued, the lower Amber's jaw dropped. She was in just as much shock as I was, this couldn't be happening, Eli couldn't have done this.

"No," She said "He's being controlled, or impersonated, something, anything."

"I know," I said "I don't want to believe it either, but I have to go see for myself."

"What am I going to tell everyone?" She asked

"Tell them my brother's gone missing," I said "That way, those who know about us will know what's going on, and those who don't will think they know what's going on."

"I just can't believe any of this." She said quietly

"Me neither," I told her "That's why I'm going back, I _will_ figured out what's going on."

"Just stay safe," She said, pulling me into a hug "Please don't do anything stupid or crazy."

"Hey," I laughed "It's me."

"That's the point." She said, smiling at me

She headed off to tell the rest of her family that I was leaving, while I headed back to our room to pack. I looked at the small foldout bed we had been sleeping on together for the past two nights, wondering if I would ever be back here. I grabbed my backpack and threw everything I had brought with me into it, fighting to get it zipped up. When it was finally packed and I was ready, I headed back down the hallway to wait for Ladon. It would only take him about an hour to fly from New York to Alabama, and it had taken me nearly fifteen minutes to get my stuff packed.

"Oh, Raven!" Amber's Aunt Sarah exclaimed when I came into the living room "I'm so sorry about your brother, I do hope you find him!"

"Me too." I sighed

"Do you need a ride?" Oscar asked "Back to New York, I mean."

"No," I told him "My uhhh, cousin is coming to pick me up. He's only about an hour out."

Oscar nodded and sat back down and I headed out the door, intending to spot Ladon before the rest of the family did, just in case the mist didn't know what to do to disguise a dragon. Amber followed me outside to wait with me, even knowing I wasn't going to let her go back with me, not right now.

"I'm going alone," I told her before she could even open her mouth "You need to stay here, it'll be weird for you to come back with me because my brother's gone."

"I know," She said "I actually wanted to talk to you, about something we haven't had a chance to talk about, and I know it's bugging you."

"And what's that?" I asked, confused

"Tyler." She said

 _Oh fuck,_ I thought _I knew this one was coming._

I had been waiting for her to bring him up, because I knew she knew it was bugging me. The way he had shown up, the casual way she had thrown out that they had dated once before. I wouldn't be so bothered by it if it hadn't been a clean breakup, if he had, like cheated on her or something, it would be okay. But it almost seemed like if he hadn't moved states then they might still be together.

"We don't have to talk about him." I said

"We don't," She said "But you want to."

"Why would you say that?" I asked, trying to avoid the conversation

"Because," She said simply "I know you."

"I'm worried," I said, realizing she wasn't going to drop it until I talked to her "I'm worried that being around him might bring up old feelings you had and you'll leave me."

"Why do you think I'd do that?" Amber asked

"Because, he's everything I'm not," I told her "He's everything I can't be, and everything I'll never be."

"And you think I'll leave you for him?" She asked

"Yes," I said, exasperated "I do, Amber. I think you're going to realize how much better than me he is, I think you're going to wake up one morning and decide you don't want to deal with my bullshit anymore, I'm scared that, for the first time in my entire life, I will have fallen in love, and gotten hurt."

She didn't say anything, she didn't have to. Things had been a bit rocky between the two of us as of late, we had argued several times over the past few months, and I was scared she was getting tired of it. Despite the amount of times I said Amber didn't deserve to be stuck with me and I didn't deserve her, I still didn't want her to leave me.

"You think I could ever see you as you see yourself?" She asked finally

"What do you mean?" I asked her

"You have never seen yourself above some two bit drug dealer," She said "You always think you're still this stupid, murdering, drug dealing, thief. That's not who you are anymore, you're the son of Artemis, you're a hero."

"No, I'm not," I told her "Percy's a hero, Jason's a hero, Frank's a hero, Leo's a hero, Chiron's a hero, Annabeth's a hero, I'm-"

"You're what?" She demanded "What do they have that you don't?"

"Morals," I said, getting frustrated "A sense of right and wrong, a sense of when things have been taken too far."

"And you think that you don't have those things?" Amber asked me

"I know I don't have those things," I exploded "I don't, I never have."

"You think that's what makes a hero?" She said "Raven, you've selflessly put your own life at risk for the sake of others countless times, you stood against Tartarus when most are afraid to even speak his name. What do you call that?"

"Doing what was expected of me," I said "Amber, if it wasn't you guys in danger, if it had been some group of people I'd never met, I'd have let them rot."

"No you wouldn't have," She protested "And you know you wouldn't have, you're a good person, you're the person I fell in love with."

"No I ain't," I said "I'm a completely different person, Amber."

"So what?" She demanded "You want to break up with me because you aren't the same kid you were a year ago?"

"No," I said, getting confused "I just-"

"Raven," She said gently "I know you're worried, but trust me, you have nothing to be worrying about."

"I wish I could convince myself that." I said

"Well you'll have to work on that later," She said, pointing "Your ride's here."

I looked up to see Ladon descending on us, his wings extended gracefully. He touched down and gave a low growl, letting us know he was worried. I patted his snout and swung myself up onto him, gripping the rope on his saddle firmly.

"We can talk more about it when I come back," I told her "If you want."

"If it still needs to be talked about." Amber said

I flicked Ladon's reigns and he took off into the air, blowing fallen leaves all over the place. I found myself looking back at Amber, watching her disappear until I could no longer see her, and knowing that she was doing the same.

Antonio:

Ladon returned almost two hours later, with Raven on his back. He dismounted the second Ladon touched down, and headed straight towards Chiron, Reyna, and I, who had been talking about recent events concerning Eli. I had sat with Kayla for almost four hours while she cried after receiving the news, which I knew wasn't exactly easy for her. The father of her child, her husband, had just betrayed us all.

"Hey," He said, running to us "Alright, so down to business then."

"I'm sure you are aware of the events that transpired last night?" Chiron asked me

"Yeah," He said "But there's something-"

"I fear you may be wrong," Chiron interrupted him "While Thalia did voice your concerns to me, Eli did not exhibit any traits of possession, such as a voice change."

"That doesn't mean much until we know for sure." Raven protested as we began walking

"Raven," Reyna said "I know this is difficult for you, and trust me it is for me too, but we must go off the facts at the moment. The facts being that Eli, one of my Centuions, has indeed betrayed us."

"Reyna, I'm telling you right now," Raven said angrily "This isn't Eli, it wasn't him that attacked Thalia, it wasn't him that killed Nico and Gwen."

"Well, regardless of who killed them," Chiron said, cutting Reyna off just as she was about to speak "We still have two bodies, and this conversation will have to wait until after the funeral."

Raven nodded and fell silent, following us to the amphitheater, where Nico and Gwen's funerals were being held. When we got there, all the Romans, Greeks, hunters, and nature spirits were present. Even Hades and Athena stood in the crowd, their faces completely blanks. Nico and Gwen's shrouds were almost identical, Nico's being black with a skull and an own encased in a heart, with an infinity symbol below it, and Gwen's being the same, only grey. The Athena cabin had weaved both of them, seeing as Nico had no cabin mates to make his own.

"It is indeed a sad day for us all," Chiron said, stepping between the two shroud covered bodies "Nico Di Angelo was a hero and friend to many of us, and has even saved all of our lives on a few occasions. Although I did not know Nico as well as others, I do know he was a great hero."

He glanced at Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of the seven as he said this, knowing how bad this was hurting them. Reyna kept a stony face, but I knew she was hurting too. She had told me all about traveling with Nico, what he'd done to make sure the statue got here, almost dying in the process.

"And Gwendolyn Dehart," Chiron said, clearing his throat "Such a short life, and yet a bright one. Gwen brought smiles wherever she seemed to go, and from what I observed of her, she enjoyed helping others. She did what few of us have ever been able to do, and that was make Nico smile. Although Nico was withdrawn, and his life wasn't the best, his last days were spent with a girl who seemed to bring out an entirely different person in him, a girl who brought out the best in all of us. I had the pleasure of teaching her archery, a fine student, a fast learner. We will remember you both, and carry your legends, and the stories of your lives, until the end of our days."

And with those words, he lit the shrouds. I hadn't seen a demigod funeral yet, and I wasn't exactly eager to see it again. Percy held Annabeth while she cried, most of the Athena cabin was crying, hell half the camp was crying, even Athena herself shed a few tears.

"The mystery and controversy surrounding their deaths will be solved," Chiron said, looking at Raven and I "But let us not forget, we still have a prophecy going on, and a quest to be undertaken."

"How could we forget?" I muttered

The shrouds burned brightly, and we all stood there until the fires had died down. When they finally did, Raven stood and headed off to clear his head. I knew he had a lot to think about and contemplate, what with his brother being accused of treason and all. We had a prophecy that required three of us to finish, and now one of us was off doing gods know what.

"Are you okay?" Reyna asked me, sitting down to my left

"I'm fine," I told her "Just thinking."

"I try not to do that," She said "It just makes things worse."

"Maybe you could teach me sometime." I laughed

"I could try." She said

We both fell silent, and my thoughts once again drifted to the prophecy. I wondered what exactly was going on, and if it was orchestrated by one side, or if everything was just turning to complete chaos. I didn't even notice Chiron come up to us until Reyna nudged me and nodded upwards at him.

"If you'll come to the big house with me," He sighed, very clearly exhausted "I think it's time we talked, Raven will meet us there."

"Me too?" Reyna asked

"Yes, the both of you." Chiron said, turning away

We followed Chiron up to the big house, both of us wondering what this could be about. Raven was waiting outside when we arrived, and he didn't look happy to be dragged away from whatever he had been off doing. Chiron ushered us inside quickly, as if there was some urgent business that needed to be attended to right then. As it turns out, that urgent business turned out to be a floating, glowing red head.

"Oh great Oracle," Chiron said, looking at the shock on my face "Might I ask you to repeat the prophecy you spoke to me a moment ago?"

The girl's head turned to look at Chiron, regarding him, sizing him up. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but I recognized the girl as Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I didn't know who she was, or who her parent was, but apparently her floating and turning green was a common thing judging by how calm Chiron seemed about it. When she spoke, her voice sounded multiplied, and very much not like an eighteen year old girl should sound like.

 _The forbidden sons, and the daughter of Rome_

 _Shall set out, to bring the traitor home_

 _The son of moon will meet his brother, and face him alone_

 _The son of fire will be pulled away by his desire for revenge_

 _The daughter pulled away, due to her duty to her friends_

 _The sons of moon will duel, to the bitter, bloody end_

 _Their bond broken, seemingly never to mend_

 _The blood of the mothers is needed to resurrect the fallen king_

 _He will rise again, with the help of the Greek_

I thought she was finished, but then she turned her head towards Raven, looking him dead in the eye. He backed up a little bit, and I couldn't really blame him, whatever the hell this was, it was really freaky. She spoke again, pointing her finger at him.

"Do not seek your brother," She hissed "If you wish to find him, do not seek him."

And with that, she collapsed. Chiron moved forward, catching her just before she hit the ground. Raven turned to look at me, knowing exactly what I was thinking. What the fuck just happened? Chiron propped Rachel on the couch and turned back to us, indicating for us to sit.

"Well, that was Rachel," He said to me "I don't believe the two of you have gotten acquainted yet, she's not a demigod, she's our oracle."

"And she gives prophecies," I guessed "Alright, I'm not even gonna ask questions about what just happened."

"It's probably best that you don't," Chiron admitted "Save us all the headache."

"So," Raven said "Forbidden sons, that'd be us I'm guessing, which is why you called us here?"

"Correct." Chiron said

"And me?" Reyna asked "It said daughter of Rome, why did you pick me specifically?"

"Well, as there are many to choose from, I thought I'd give you the opportunity to go yourself," Chiron said "If you don't want to, it's up to you who goes, just as long as it's a female Roman."

"I accept," Reyna said immediately "I'll go, and I'll help in any way I can."

"Alright, so elephant in the room," Raven said "The prophecy seems pretty straight forward, go, fight my brother to the death, and get out."

"For some reason," Reyna said sarcastically "I find myself wondering if it has more to it."

"The blood of the mothers is needed to resurrect the fallen king?" I asked "Let's start with that, who are the mothers?"

"Ours," Raven said quietly "They need the blood of our mothers for the ritual to resurrect Ouranos, Hestia and Artemis."

"Why do these things seem to always involve either somebody's blood, or their mother?" Reyna groaned

"What about the whole with the help of the Greek?" I asked "Which Greek? One of us?"

"Hell no," Raven said "Why in the hell would we help Ouranos?"

"Don't spend too much time contemplating the lines," Chiron told us "They're wrapped in riddles, they could mean anything."

I could tell he was also thinking what we were, why would Raven or I help Ouranos? Eli was the one that had betrayed us, so why would the prophecy say we would help them? I glanced at Raven, who was very clearly thinking about the bitter, bloody end line. I knew fighting his brother to the death wasn't something he was looking forward to, but there was something else on his mind too.

"What about what Rachel said after the prophecy?" He asked "About me not seeking Eli?"

"I'm not sure," Chiron said "She has never done that before, and I'm not sure what she meant. But it is possible that, rather than you finding him, Eli will find you."

"What do you mean?" I asked "Why would Eli hunt _us_ down?"

"If Eli has indeed betrayed us," Chiron said "He will have given himself to Ouranos entirely, which means the annihilation of his enemies. You and Raven pose the biggest threat to Ouranos's reign, your destruction ensures his rise."

"If he kills us," Raven said slowly "How are we supposed to help Ouranos rise?"

"You act like you want to betray us." I told him

"Look," Reyna interrupted "I'm getting a headache, so I think the best thing to do is just to set out and try and get this done with."

"Where do we even go?" I asked "Where would Eli be going?"

"We're not hunting Eli," Raven said, realization dawning in his face "We're hunting that potion, we'll go to the Underworld, where Bob told us about. Eli will be heading for that potion, they'll need it for the ritual, if we can get there first, we can take it, and maybe find Eli."

"Do not seek him," Reyna said, catching on "Do not seek him, we're not going after _Eli,_ we're going after the potion. Eli will find us."

"Exactly," Raven said "We'll head out in the morning, with the hunt, maybe we can get this over with by Tuesday night."

"If only we could be so lucky." I sighed

 **Hey guys, how's everybody doing? Well, not much to say, God bless, read and review, be yourselves, Love's ya'll. Percabeth2death out ya'll.**


	6. Chapter 6: My brother is dead

**Hey guys, what's up? So quick update, I've been having some writer's block but it's all good I think, so we're gonna jump right into this. Please remember to read and review.**

Chapter 6: My brother is dead

Kayla:

"Will you find him?" I asked

"I'm gonna do my best," Raven promised me "I don't believe Eli betrayed us, I think that there's something bigger working here."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one." I sighed

Raven smiled reassuringly at me and looked down at the baby in his arms. Brady liked his Uncle Raven, he was smiling and staring into his eyes with wonder. I knew how much Raven and Eli looked alike, and I knew that Brady was struggling between knowing that the person holding him wasn't his father and how much he resembled his father.

"When I find out what's going on," He told me "I'm going to bring Eli back to you, I promise."

"Raven," I said, suddenly fearful "What if he really has changed? What if you have to kill him?"

"I'll do everything to ensure it doesn't come to that," He said with a sad look in his eyes "This is not Eli, he would never do something like this."

"I know," I said as he handed Brady back to me "I'm just worried is all."

"Don't be," Raven said, giving me a small hug "With any luck, we'll be back in a few days, with Eli and that potion."

I had such a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I shoved it down. Eli would be okay, he would return to us and we'd figure out what had happened to him. I still found myself hoping I would wake up soon, and this would all turn out to have just been a bad dream.

Raven:

We set out with the hunt, heading towards California. Although my mother wanted to come with us, she knew she couldn't come to the Underworld with us. This was a demigod quest, and that's all it could be. Antonio seemed jittery, being out of the camp, but he was much more trained than the last time he'd left, I knew he'd be fine. Reyna wasn't a fan of traveling with the hunt, and it seemed like some of them were doing their best to recruit her.

"Why wouldn't you want to be a hunter?" I heard one of them asking her "It's fantastic, free reign to roam and hunt, no boys, good food, a warm bed."

I knew the sooner we left them behind, the happier Reyna would be. I kept myself from thinking about Eli by helping Antonio train, and it worked for the most part. I often didn't even have time to form a thought until we sat down to eat or went to sleep. About a day after setting out from camp, we were seated around the fire, when we had a visitor.

"Hello girls!" A cheerful voice said from behind

"Hello, Lord Apollo." The hunters groaned back

"Well if it isn't my two nephews," He said, clapping Antonio and I on the back "Off on another adventure to save the world I see, and who is this lovely young doll? I don't believe we've met."

"Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano," Reyna said "Daughter of Bellona, Praetor of Camp Jupiter."

"Ohhh yes," Apollo laughed "I've heard of you, pretty much prevented a civil war didn't you?"

"Yes," Reyna sighed "I suppose I did."

"To what do I owe the pleasure my dear brother?" My mother asked, rolling her eyes

"Oh thought I'd come visit you and the gang, Arty," Apollo laughed "After all, you are my baby sister, just gotta check up on you. And I ummm, heard about Eli."

"Again, please stop calling me Arty," My mother groaned "And yes, we're heading to try and find him."

"I wish you the best of luck," Apollo said "Zeus knows I would love to see my daughter happy again."

Nobody said anything, because there was nothing to be said. I wondered if Apollo was offering his help, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to take it, not for this. Finding the potion was our mission, but facing Eli when we finally found him was _my_ mission. I couldn't let anybody else fight him, because it was my battle, and mine alone.

"I sense so much turmoil in you," Apollo mused, looking at me "Just know this, when the time comes, you must put the fate of the world before your own needs."

The god of prophecy had just given me an extremely vague warning about the end of this prophecy, and I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it. There was so many different things it could mean, and none of them were good, in fact, they were all really shitty.

"Fuck," I said, standing "I need a blunt, you coming Antonio?"

"Yeah," He sighed, standing with me "I'm in."

We walked back to my tent and went inside. I grabbed my backpack and dug through it until I found wraps and my bag of weed, then I sat down and went to work. After it was rolled, we headed out to the edge of the camp and sat down on a log.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked, lighting it up "If Eli really has turned, the only way I can see this ending is with one of us dead."

"I don't think Eli turned," Antonio said "I really don't, I think you were right about him being controlled, and I think I might know who did it."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, passing the blunt

"I did a little digging, and I found out a little interesting bit of information," Antonio shrugged, taking it "Annabeth, from the Athena cabin, I asked her about this, about who could've made him do this. She told me that when that Luke kid everybody talks about let Kronos into his body, he had full control over him, Kronos did I mean."

"So what are you saying?" I asked, taking it back as he passed "That Eli let Kronos enter him?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, except I don't think he _let_ him do it," Antonio said "Annabeth said that it's entirely possible that when Eli kicked open that coffin lid and fired into it, a piece of Kronos's soul could have escaped, and latched onto the nearest living being."

"Eli," I breathed "You're saying that you think Eli is under a spell by Kronos? How could somebody not have sensed it?"

"I don't know, but he hasn't been acting quite right since the battle on the mountain," Antonio said, taking the blunt "It could've been Kronos taking control."

"But why didn't he ever say anything?" I asked him

"Maybe he thought he was going crazy," Antonio shrugged "Maybe he thought it was just nerves."

I let what Antonio had suggested sink in, and I digested the words. Eli could be under Kronos's control, and that meant I was right. One thing still bit at me, the last demigod that Kronos controlled didn't live because he couldn't get Kronos out of him. Even if we were to subdue Eli long enough to capture him, what good would it do us if he was going to be like this forever? Suddenly, as I was contemplating this, I got a feeling. It started small, and I barely noticed it, but then it grew, and it could only be one thing.

"Eli," I said, putting the blunt out "Eli, he's close."

"What do you mean?" Antonio asked

"I can feel him, he's running." I explained, motioning for him to follow me back to the camp

"From what?" Antonio asked

"Us." I responded simply

As we were running, I saw a red sports car peel off into the sky, Apollo had departed. We bolted into the camp and I frantically looked around for my mother, who jumped up when we tore through the bushes, probably looking pretty freaked out.

"You sensed it too?" I asked, locking eyes with her

"Yes," She nodded "He's very close."

"Let's go then," I told her "What are we waiting for?"

"You're right," She agreed "Girls, dismantle the camp."

In less than a minute, everything was packed and we were heading out. Reyna, Antonio, and the hunters followed my mother and I, knowing we could sense Eli. I pushed myself to run harder than I ever had in my life, and my sides started to hurt, I really needed to quit smoking.

"He's stopped!" I called behind me "He's just up ahead!"

We broke out of the trees and found ourselves standing in front of an old, abandoned Kroger. The town around it was quiet, with no traffic at all, I didn't even see any people. I heard the rest come through behind me, and stop where I stood behind the store. It was very clearly empty, what with all the boarded up windows. I noticed one of the windows had been knocked out, probably kicked in, that meant Eli was inside.

"Stay here," I told my mother "Have the hunters set up a perimeter around the store in case he tries to escape, I'll go in after him."

"No," My mother said "I'm going in with you."

"Mom, this is something I have to do," I told her "And I have to do it alone."

"I'm not letting-" She began

"I'm not asking your permission," I told her "Just get the hunters into position and wait for me, I have to face him alone."

I could see my mother wasn't going to back down, but the line about mother's blood still spooked me, and I didn't want to bring her in there knowing Eli could jump out of nowhere and take what he needed from her. Although I did suspect that he might get it anyways, I would do what I could to prevent it.

"Fine," She said, realizing I wasn't going to fold "Girls, secure a position around the store, use tranquilizer arrows."

"Yes milady," Thalia said "Right away."

She waved for all the hunters to do what Artemis had told them, and they moved without haste. Antonio and Reyna joined them, knowing when I meant I was going in alone, I meant without a single person, they had to stay out here too.

"If I don't come out in ten minutes," I told my mother "Come in after me."

She nodded and I pulled my gun from my waistband and headed inside the store. I pushed myself through the open window and dropped into the store. A quick look around told me that there were still shelves and boxes here, but no people, no power, and no Eli for the moment. I crept forward, trying not to make too much noise.

"Eli," I said, knowing my voice would carry and he would hear me "I ain't here to hurt you bro, I just want to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Eli's voice responded instantly "I've seen what you can't, Raven. I know how this will end."

"So you had to betray us?" I asked

"I didn't betray you," He said "I'm saving you, all of you. If only you could see what I see."

I noticed a slight difference in the way Eli talked, no longer like somebody who had been in the streets and talked like a thug, with the accent and everything. But it sounded like his vocabulary had cleaned up, he was using words in orders I knew for a fact he had no idea they could go in.

"Kronos is lying to you," I told him, peeking around a corner "Snap out of it man, this ain't you."

"I KNOW I HAVE TO KILL HIM!" Eli roared suddenly, making me jump "JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME FUCKING THINK!"

Now it seemed like Eli, but what was happening to him. The way he spoke was changing back and forth, like he was fighting to go back to his old self. I slipped around a shelf and looked around, no Eli. He was somewhere in this store, but I had yet to figure out where.

"Raven," He spoke again "Join us, brother. Together, we can destroy the gods, together, we can end this."

"Yeah," I said "We can end this, but you're fighting for the wrong side right now, Eli."

Suddenly, a single gunshot rang out and whipped right past my head. I ducked down behind the cashier counter and looked over, spotting Eli running along the top of the shelf. I fired two quick shots at his leg and ducked back down as he hopped over onto the other shelf. He rapid fired at me as he ran to the side and I returned fire. I knew the town around us was probably freaking out, what with the gunshots sounding off inside what was supposed to be an abandoned store.

"Stop this!" I yelled at him, putting in another clip "This ain't you Eli, it ain't."

"Raven, we can't stop him," Eli said, dropping down off the shelf and sliding behind it, his voice dropping with hopelessness "No demigod can, not even every one of us together, he's too powerful."

"We're only getting stronger," I told him "Everyday, we get stronger."

"No, _he_ does," Eli said "No matter how powerful we become, Ouranos will only double in strength."

He poked around the corner and fired again, and I ducked and returned fire. I fired off three quick shots before Eli took off, shooting over his shoulder. I ran after him, firing whenever I saw him, attempting to hit him in the leg or the shoulder or something that would slow him down, but he moved quicker than I could shoot.

"For a son of Artemis!" Eli yelled, running at the opening in the window we had come through "You can't shoot very well!"

I ducked another bullet and fired at him again, striking right next to his head as he was jumping out the window. In a moment, he vanished from view and I race towards the window. I jumped out of it just in time to see Eli attacking a group of hunters. I tucked my gun and pulled my lighter, flicking it. This was the first time I had used Impurity in battle after finding out she had a name, and I felt more bonded, like I knew the blade much better.

"Stop!" My mother yelled as Eli charged her "Eli! Stop!"

"I'm sorry, mother," Eli said as I drew close "I can't, my master commands it."

He swung at her and she ducked, striking back, attempting to wound him. This is what was giving Eli the advantage, he was aiming to kill, we were aiming to take a prisoner. I reached them just as Eli knocked Thalia onto the ground, unconscious. He stabbed another hunter in the stomach and took a strike at me, and I deflected.

"You're just as pathetic and weak as Nico and Gwen." Eli growled, kicking me backwards

The rest of the hunters were still trying to get to us, but hoards of monsters had appeared from the woods when Eli had jumped out of the store, and were cutting us off. Antonio and Reyna were fighting back to back, striking down anything that got too close. Mom slashed at Eli, cutting his arm, which only made him angry. He kicked her back and blasted her with silver light, blocking my blade as I came for his chest.

"Mom!" I yelled as she slammed into a tree

Eli slashed at me with his other blade and I ducked, catching he second strike with Impurity. I struck back, determined not to fail. Eli and I had sparred so often, that we knew eachother's moves so well, everything he did, I knew before he did it, and vice versa. I jumped back as he took a swing at my stomach, parrying his blade and knocking one of his knives from his hand. My mother was slashing at monsters, attempting to reach Eli and I, but they were doing a good job of slowing her down.

"I know you're as sick of all this as I am," Eli said, lowering his blades "Join us, Raven. Together we will rule this age as brothers, the way we were meant to."

I thought about what he was saying, and how right he was. I was sick of this, the prophecy, being told what to do and when to do it, my life being controlled by a couple of rhymes made far before I was born, basically constantly paying the price for my mother's mistake, I hated it, all of it. But this wasn't my brother, not anymore.

"You ain't my brother," I said "I am a son of Artemis, and I will remain a son of Artemis, you've disgraced our name, and the hunt."

"Very well," Eli sighed, sheathing his blades "I guess this will be settled elsewhere. Simply know this, next time we meet, it will be the last time."

Faster than I could track, Eli whipped his bow off of his back and sent an arrow straight at my mother. I wasn't sure exactly what he was planning to do, he couldn't kill her. Then I realized it was a tranquilizer arrow, and my mother didn't even see it until it struck her in the back. Eli kicked me away and raced towards her, grabbing her and heading towards the woods.

"Lady Artemis!" Maya yelled

"Finish off the monsters!" I yelled to Annie, who was fighting next to me "I'm going after them!"

She nodded and I raced into the woods after them, and I could hear police sirens, we had made quite the commotion. It didn't take me long to catch up to them, as Eli was carrying my unconscious mother on his back. I'm not sure how much tranquilizer it took to knock out a god, but I was willing to bet that, had it struck anybody else, it would've killed any mortal.

"Eli!" I roared, sending a bolt of silver light at him

He dropped my mother and turned just in time to deflect it, pulling out his knives as he did so. Our blades crossed and we began a fierce battle, dodging, diving, ducking, slashing, stabbing, punching, kicking, the works. I ducked as he slashed at my throat and planted a blast of light to his chest, sending him backwards.

"Die demigod scum!" A voice suddenly shrieked at me

I barely had time to register Circe come from the trees above me, wielding a long, metal pole. She smacked me in the face with it, sending me to my back. My vision went blurry and I couldn't see, I felt blood coming out of my skull and I knew I was hurt badly.

"Let's go!" Circe yelled at Eli, waving her hand and opening a portal "Hurry!"

Circe grabbed my mother and hauled her through the portal, disappearing. Just as Eli was about to enter the portal, I summoned my last bit of energy and rose to my feet, charging him with blade held high. I roared in anger as he turned and caught my blade on his and parried, throwing Impurity from my hands. I felt a stinging pain in my chest and looked down, realizing Eli had stabbed me.

"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," Eli whispered in my ear "But you never were known for staying down, brother."

With those final, malicious words, he pulled his knife from my gut and pushed me backwards. I fell down a hill and slid into a ravine, coming down hard on a bed of rocks with a small stream of water running up the creek. I heard the portal close and I was vaguely aware of people yelling my name frantically, but they sounded so far away. I tried to push myself up, but I fell back down, landing facedown in the water.

 _Just fucking great,_ I thought _I faced down Tartarus, Orion, an army, another much smaller army, and so much other bullshit, and now I'm going to drown in an inch and a half of water._

No sooner had I finished the thought, my vision went black, and the world went silent.

 **So, I really hope people are not pissed off at me for what I'm doing. Because I can really see people like sitting in their beds crying while they're reading this like why tf is he doing this to us? Yeah, I know, don't flatter myself, right? Anyways, please read and review, love ya'll, and as always, God bless.**


	7. Chapter 7: A short break

**Hey guys, Percabeth2death here, but you already knew that because you're reading my story, which means you clicked on my name and scrolled to this, so I don't actually have to tell you it's me. That gave me a headache writing that for real, c'mon guys let's get these reviews pumping, I need some feedback from ya'll. What do ya want to see, what do you wish I hadn't done, HOW MUCH DO YOU HATE THIS! Anyways, I don't own PJO or HOO, and so without further ado, let's go! Remember, read and review, and as always, God bless.**

Chapter 7: A short break

Reyna:

Raven had been in the medical tent for nearly three hours, and I was beginning to get worried. I knew the hunters had finished with his wounds a while ago, but he had a lot of water in his lungs, amazing considering he was only in an inch and a half. We had found him face down in a ravine, covered in his own blood. Artemis was nowhere to be found, and eight hunters were dead, six others wounded. Soon, I found myself sitting with Antonio on a log just outside of the camp, alone, again.

"This shit is fucked." Antonio said, lighting a cigarette

"Such an elegant way to put it." I said, trying to lighten his mood

He said nothing, simply stared off into the woods. I knew he was nervous, he had proven himself in battle more than once, but it never seemed to matter to him. He always seemed as if he knew his next battle would be his last, and I suppose for a demigod, any battle could be our last.

"What's on your mind?" I asked him, knowing what he would say

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Antonio, I analyze and read people, and I'm very good at it," I told him "I can tell your worried about something."

"I'm worried about myself," He said "I feel like I'm a liability, like I'm holding everyone back."

"Why would you think that?" I asked

"Reyna, you had to stop with me so I could catch my breath while we were running back here," He reminded me "You saved my ass five times out there in a span of fifteen minutes, I would've been dead if it wasn't for the people watching my back."

"Have you forgotten what you've done for me?" I asked "You stopped Kronos from taking over my body, you saved me from that, as far as I'm concerned, we're still not even. Raven would be dead if it wasn't for you watching his back, Eli would be dead by now if it wasn't for Raven watching his, Percy would be dead without Annabeth, I've saved Jason's life quite a few times, so has Piper, so has Leo, Nico saved my life a few times, you have no idea how many times I have looked death in the eye and somebody else pulled me out of the way."

"You didn't really seem to need any help." He said, ashing his cigarette

"It all comes with practice," I said "Eventually, you learn what it takes to keep on your feet, you haven't been in that many battles, you can't expect all this from yourself right off the bat."

"I don't know," He sighed "It just seems like sometimes I don't even know what the hell I'm doing here."

"Raven trusts you," I reminded him "Eli trusted you, Percy trusts you, and I trust you. I know that, when it matters, you will do your part, and you will do it without fail."

"Gods, I hope so," He sighed "I'd really hate to disappoint."

I cracked a smile and shook my head, not sure what else there was to say. Antonio was a good friend, and good person to have watching your back, he just needed a little nudge every now and then. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Get up," I told him "And follow me."

"Why?" He asked

"I'm going to teach you some techniques with your swords," I told him "A mix of Roman and Greek fighting styles, you'll be much harder to fight."

He shrugged and followed me to a small clearing, where I drew my sword. Antonio pulled his sword from his back and prepared himself, knowing that I had absolutely no intention of taking it easy on him. I sort of felt bad for him, but maybe this could be my way of teaching him not to be so annoying sometimes.

"Now, while you've been taught the Greek fighting styles, which consists mostly of slashing and slicing," I explained "The Roman style is not much different, but mostly consists of stabbing and hacking."

"You're not going to stab me are you?" He asked

"Well, these things do happen sometimes," I shrugged "But my intention is to simply touch the blade to you, should I win, and I hope you will extend me the same courtesy."

"Like you said," He laughed "These things do happen sometimes."

"That's the spirit." I grinned, lunging for him

Antonio was more skilled than I had given him credit for, and he had very clearly been training hard since I had last seen him. But he did have one weakness, he didn't know how to conserve his energy. He let you have everything he had, and he refused to hold back, and he tired very quickly.

"Come on," I taunted, deflecting one of his blades "Lunge, stab, hack."

He did what I told him and his attacks began having more power behind them, making them harder for me to deflect. Rather than going blade to blade with him, I resorted to moving around to dodge his strikes. I sidestepped his stab and came behind, sticking my blade to his back.

"Kill," I told him "You got sloppy."

"Damn," He grumbled, stepping away from my blade "That seems to be my problem."

"Don't worry," I said, readying my sword again "You'll get better."

I lunged at him again, and he deflected my blade, coming back with his own strike. I tried to sidestep again, but he moved with me. I'll give him one thing, despite how sloppy he was and how many mistakes he made, he learned to correct them very quickly once they were pointed out.

Raven:

A few hours later, I came to. My head was throbbing, and I felt where I had been hit and felt no blood, but it was killing me. I pushed myself up and looked around, realizing I was in my tent. Everything came rushing back to me and my headache got even worse.

"Argh," I groaned "My head."

I stood and grabbed my hoodie off the ground next to me and exited the tent, checking my surroundings. Were still in the same woods, and I could see the ravine I had fallen in. Thalia emerged from the tent next to me and gave a small smile when she saw me, walking over to help me move.

"Easy," She said, sliding under my arm to support me "You got pretty banged up, you'll have to be careful for a bit."

"Ugh," I groaned as she sat me down on a log "What happened?"

"We found you in the creek, bleeding out," Thalia said "So we got you up here, set up camp, and then went to work on making sure you didn't die."

"I had him, Thalia," I said "I had him, I was so close."

"I know, Raven," She said "I know."

I was lost in my failure, my mother had been taken because of me, because I wasn't fast enough to beat Eli. On top of all that, my worst fears were confirmed, Eli truly had betrayed us. My brother was lost, corrupted by Kronos.

"You were right," I told Thalia "You were right, Eli betrayed us."

"This is one instance I'm really not happy to say I told you so." Thalia said

"I will get her back," I told her "I promise you."

"I know we can't come with you guys to the Underworld," Thalia said "But I trust you, I know you'll deliver on your word."

We sat in silence, and my mind was racing a mile a minute. I was running through plans in my head, how we could succeed, if we could even succeed at all. I saw Antonio and Reyna making their way over too us, having now seen I was awake.

"Well look who's back from the dead." Antonio said as they approached

"Well I am hard to kill," I said "Thought you'd have learned that by now."

Antonio laughed and Reyna gave me a small smile, which I returned. I was still in pain, but it had lessened a bit, and I knew the hunters had given me as much ambrosia and nectar as they could without destroying me, so I would just have to tough it out until I it had healed me completely.

"Oh good," Annie said, coming into the area where we sat "You're alive."

"Good?" I asked "Does that mean you didn't want me to die?"

"I might not like you," She said "But that doesn't mean I wanted you to die."

"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." I teased her

"Oh shut up," She grumbled "Before I kill you myself."

We all laughed, except for Annie who just rolled her eyes, looking as annoyed as she always did whenever I didn't die doing something stupid and dangerous. Reyna and Antonio sat down and Reyna cleared her throat, clearly getting ready to get down to business.

"So," She said "Now that you're healed, I think it's time we headed in the direction of the Underworld."

"There's an entrance in LA," Thalia said "You already knew that, so now we just need to get you there."

"Any chance we might be able to take a train all the way there?" I asked

"Where are we at now?" Antonio asked

"Kansas." Thalia said

"A train from Kansas to LA?" Reyna asked "No way we even have that much mortal money."

"What we do have would get us to Nevada," I said "We'd have to figure out something from there."

"One step at a time," Antonio said "Ain't that what you always say?"

"I do say that," I admitted "So we'll head to the train station, it'll get us to Nevada, and we'll take it from there."

"I'd rather have a solid plan." Reyna said

"This is a solid plan," Antonio said "It just isn't finished."

Reyna rolled her eyes and Antonio and I laughed. I enjoyed the brief moment of peace, allowing myself to forget about the quest, knowing it wouldn't last long. Reyna left to grab our bags, and I knew she was eager to leave. The hunters were trying hard to get Reyna to join, and she was losing her patience very quickly.

"Alright, so we're getting to Nevada," Antonio said "After that, we make our way to LA and there's an entrance there?"

"Yeah, it's disguised as a recording studio lobby," I said "I talked with Percy about it, I know the location and places to avoid."

"Places to avoid?" Antonio asked

"Something about a mattress store and a dude who tried to stretch them to death," I shrugged "It was hard to follow."

"I still think you should stay for another hour or so," Thalia said "Heal up properly before you leave."

"Eli already has a huge head start," I said, taking my back from Reyna as she returned "We can't waste anymore time unless we have to."

"Fine, but make sure you don't get hurt anymore," Thalia said "Lady Artemis would never forgive us if you died going after her."

"I'll do my best," I said "Head back to Camp Half-Blood and wait for us."

"Ugh," Maya groaned "Do we have to?"

"I think it's best," Thalia agreed "We'll wait for you and Lady Artemis there, I'm sure Chiron won't mind."

"Yeah, I think it's the campers that'll have a problem with it," Maya said "We've spent more time at that camp since you showed up than we ever have."

Antonio helped me to my feet and we waved to the gathered campers, heading off towards the town we had come from, intending to find a train. I knew we would probably have to dodge cops, as they would still be looking for the shooters from the store, but as long as we didn't draw attention to ourselves, I knew we'd be fine, or that's what I had hoped for. Being a demigod tended to work out exactly how you hoped it wouldn't, and I wasn't disappointed.

 **Hey guys, sorry for the wait, I had a bit of writers block, okay a lot but still I got it out which is all that mattered. Remember to read and review, God bless, and I love ya'll, Percabeth2death Out!**


	8. Chapter 8: The descendant

**Hey guys, not much gonna be said here, so we'll just go right into it, pleas read and review. BTW, so sorry for the wait, I've been deleting and rewriting this chapter soooo much, I just didn't like the direction it was going.**

Chapter 8: The descendant

Raven:

Getting through the town and onto the train wasn't a problem, even with the cops trying to find the culprits of the shootout in the abandoned store. Once we got on the train, well things didn't go so well from that point. We had been on about an hour, in deep discussion in the back car. There were only two or three other families in that one with us, so we discussed our quest in hushed tones, knowing there wasn't much danger of being overheard.

"Okay, so we've just crossed Colorado," Reyna said, looking out the window "The train is moving at a decent speed, so we might possibly get there before Eli."

"It won't matter if we beat Eli there or not," I said "We're still going to have to stop him somehow."

"And we'll have to be waiting for him even if we do get there first," Antonio said "So, that brings up the elephant in the room."

"Which is?" Reyna asked

"Are you going to kill Eli?" Antonio asked, turning to me "Or are you going to try and take him prisoner, possibly reason with him."

This was something I had been wondering ever since we had departed from the hunters, and I didn't have an answer. The closer we got, the more thought I put into it, and the harder my decision became. I still didn't want to believe that it was really my brother I had fought outside that store, I hadn't known him my whole life as most brothers did, but I had known him long enough to know that it wasn't like him to do this.

"I don't know." I finally answered

"Raven," Reyna began "I know you want to try, but there might not be any reasoning with him."

"You think I don't know that?" I hissed "Believe me, I've thought about it so many times, I know what the possibilities are."

"Guys." Antonio said

"Not now," Reyna shushed him "I think you're too emotionally tied to Eli to do what needs to be done, what may need to be done?"

"What may need to be done?" I replied "Why don't you just say it, Reyna? I'm gonna have to kill Eli."

"Guys." Antonio said, a bit more urgently

"What?" I demanded, looking up

Antonio didn't need to say anything after that, because Reyna and I now noticed that the other people sharing our compartment had fallen asleep. Normally, this might not have been any cause for alarm, and I wasn't sure why it was this time. But every hair on my body suddenly stood on end, my internal hunter's instinct began screaming danger.

 _Something's wrong._ A small voice in my head said

 _No?_ I thought back sarcastically _Really? I hadn't noticed._

"They're asleep," Reyna said "What-"

"I'm afraid," A voice interrupted her "That's my doing."

A man materialized a few feet from us, grinning wickedly. He had white hair, and a face like he was half asleep. His voice was quiet, as though he was trying not to wake somebody. Instantly, the three of us shot to our feet and pulled weapons. Impurity shot into my hand quicker than lightning, and I moved to the left. Antonio whipped out both of his swords and jumped over the seat, landing in front of the man. Reyna drew her sword and moved between us, leveling it at his face.

"Now now," The man said, raising his hands "No need to be hostile. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Morpheus, the god of sleep."

"Morpheus?" Antonio asked "The guy who helped Kronos during the second Titan war?"

"Alas, the very same," Morpheus said, giving a small smile "I'm pleased to finally meet you, son of Artemis, as well as the son of Hestia."

"Well," I said, raising my eyebrows "We're popular."

"I must say, you don't look impressive," He admitted "But I know from experience that appearance isn't everything, your brother showed me this. He arrived in my world, the dream world, he bested me in combat and I allowed him free reign in my realm, to continue his search for the potion."

"Eli?" I asked "You've seen Eli?"

"Of course I've seen him," He laughed "He sent me, I'm here on his orders."

At this, I leveled my sword a bit more at him, waiting for him to attack. He made no move, just stood there. I was beginning to wonder if he might've been joking, but I could already tell this wasn't the type of god to sit around and make jokes.

"And what exactly where his orders?" Reyna asked "If you don't mind me asking."

"To either kill you or to take you prisoner and bring you to him," Morpheus said "Whichever strikes my fancy at the moment."

"I don't like the sound of that." Antonio muttered

"So," Morpheus said, cracking his neck "What'll it be? I can bring you to Eli, or I can bring him your bodies, your choice."

"Is there a third option where we just all leave and go our separate ways?" I asked "I prefer to just get there when I get there."

"I'm afraid not." He said, as though it genuinely saddened him "My task is to bring you before Eli, dead or alive."

"Didn't figure." I shrugged

"What did you mean about your realm?" Antonio asked "I don't get it, why would Eli need somewhere to set up to look for the potion, we know where it is."

"No, you simply know where to start looking," Morpheus said "The directions to old Roman gave you would bring you to a portal, one that would lead you into my world. Once there, you would have to search it to find the potion, and even I can't find it yet."

"Hades hid something like that in somebody else's realm?" I asked "Why would he take the chance?"

"How should I know?" Morpheus asked "I wasn't even home when he put it in there, and now I can't even find it."

"I know everything I think we'll get out of him," I said, looking to Reyna "Yes?"

She nodded, and I lunged. I knew Morpheus would eventually attack, and I wasn't going to wait for him to make the first move. I hit him fast and hard, sending him flying into a booth. He pushed himself up and drew a sword, growling fiercely.

"You're going to regret that, son of Artemis." He said

Eli:

"What do you mean?" I demanded, grabbing the Telkhine by his collar "She escaped?"

"She was too powerful, my lord," He gasped "She led us into the woods, and then picked us off one by one."

"I should've known," I growled "She's too powerful for you to handle, I'll have to deal with her on my own."

I tossed the Telkhine to the floor and he scrambled away from me, bowing and thanking me for my mercy. I turned away from him, looking out over the river of Oblivion. Morpheus's realm was a tricky one, extremely difficult to navigate, if he wasn't helping you.

"Morpheus should be able to make quick work of our little heroes," Circe said "That will free us up to concentrate on this girl."

"Morpheus won't be able to make quick work of anything," I told her "As for the girl, I'll be taking care of her myself."

"My lord?" Circe asked

"Raven is far too powerful for Morpheus to handle, much more so than he realizes," I explained "The girl is too. Raven will find his way here, and then I'll kill him, but the girl cannot be allowed to find him."

"When do we leave?" She asked

"No," I told her "This is my fight, she would destroy you before you could even raise your weapon."

"My lord-" She began indignantly

"That's enough," I said forcefully "What I said stands, she is too powerful."

Circe went silent and I began thinking, wondering how I would cut her off before she got to Raven. She was so much closer than I was, and the best I could do was kill her before he found us. I could take one of them, two of them was stretching it. With Antonio and Reyna thrown into the mix, there was no way I would win.

"What is so special about this girl?" Circe finally asked

I thought hard about my answer, wondering exactly what I should and shouldn't tell her. Circe was loyal, and I very seriously doubted she would be feeding the things I told her to the gods, but I still preferred to keep things on a need to know basis.

"Her name is Lacey Alistair," I answered finally "She is a descendant of Artemis, my son's daughter."

 **Hey guys, I know this was a bit short, and I know it took forever and I'm sorry. Anyways, read and review, god bless, and as always, I love ya'll.**


	9. Chapter 9: I thought she said sixteen

**What's up guys, sorry for the wait, I've had some shit to deal with. So when we last left off, I threw in the most random twist you have ever seen from a book, except maybe in the Maze Runner when Thomas got a boner for another girl out of nowhere, but anyways, all in the past. Read and review, and God bless. One more thing, as of April 15, 2016 I will be changing my pen name to Just Somedude. So, that'll be happening, again, APRIL 15, 2016!**

Chapter 9: I thought she said sixteen

Lacey:

I was waiting outside the train station, knowing that Raven and the others would be arriving any minute. It was crucial that he makes it to the dream world, and that he find that potion. This entire quest could go sideways if I failed, so I had to succeed. I remembered what my great Uncle Raven had said to me before I left, and what he gave me.

"I was never an easily trusting kid," He told me "When you see me, give me this."

He handed me a photograph, a very old one at that. A younger version of him, standing in between two boys. The one on his left was black, with cornrows, the one on his left was Mexican with a buzz cut. They were all holding C's up with their left hands, grinning from ear to ear. I wasn't sure what exactly would make the Raven from the past trust me, but he seemed very sure that this picture would do the trick. On the back of the picture was an envelope, a letter inside of it. I hadn't yet opened it, because it was not for my eyes.

"If anything will prove your point," He had said "It's this picture, and the letter if that fails."

I wished I could've just talked to him at camp, but I didn't need to reveal myself to everybody. I stayed seated on the bench, waiting for the train to pull up, as well as keep an eye out for any suspicious activity from mortals that may have been disguised as monsters.

"I knew I'd find you here." A voice spoke from behind me

I turned my head slightly to see my grandfather standing a few feet away, not looking at me. He was leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead, he made no threatening moves. I gripped the knife under my jacket and waited, but he never moved. I could hear a train in the distance, getting closer, I had to act fast.

"If you knew that," I said "You must know why I'm here."

"I know exactly why you're here," He said, drawing his knives "And I need to stop you."

He closed the distance quickly, but I had been trained by Artemis and Reyna personally, and I knew his fighting style well. I kicked him back and leaped to my feet, taking a shot at him, but he parried and pushed my away.

"I see you didn't come without training," Eli laughed, smart "But it will do you no good."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a train pulling into the station, and the mortals were eyeing us wearily, waiting for us to start fighting again. It was at that moment that Eli shot two quick beams of silver light at me, narrowly missing me. The mortals scattered, screaming in panic. I rushed him, swinging my knives viciously, trying to take him off his guard.

"Good." He laughed, parrying each strike with ease

I pushed him back and he swung at my neck, trying to cut me. I kicked at his knee but he pulled away, swinging viciously with his knives. As the train came to a stop, a small boom came from inside, and a figure flew from a hole busted into the back car. Eli and I stopped our fight for a moment to check out the commotion. Morpheus had been blasted out of the train by my great Uncle Raven, who know stood along with Antonio and Reyna.

"Welcome, Brother!" Eli called to him "So nice of you to join us!"

"Eli." Raven growled, turning his attention from Morpheus

"You get Eli," Antonio said, leveling his swords "We can take him."

I moved away from the two of them, knowing of the fight that would soon erupt. Raven, Eli, and Antonio were the three most powerful demigods in history, and there were no other equals, I knew that getting between them would mean death.

"Who are you?" Raven asked me, drawing closer

"I'll explain momentarily," I said, leveling my attention to Morpheus "For now, please try and stay alive."

Raven:

I know I probably should've been a bit more thrown off by the girl, but I was done with surprises for the day. I just shrugged and continued my advance towards Eli, figuring I would find out later. Eli had a cocky look in his eye, knowing I was still weary from how quickly he had beaten me the last time we fought.

"Alright, Kronos," I said, cracking my neck "Last chance, get your ass out of my brother and crawl back into whatever hole you came from."

"You'll have to do more than that," Eli laughed, readying his blades "You'll have to do much worse than that."

"I figured." I shrugged

I lunged for him, swinging my blade high. He pushed it off with his knives, trying to continue his advance. We continued to strike back and forth, unable to get an upper hand. I swept his blade high and went for his leg, but he elbowed me in the face and kicked me back. I sent a small beam of silver light at him, which he deflected off of his blades, and then rushed him while I had an opening. I got inside his guard and we began a fierce back and forth dance of death, each of us giving our all to be the victor.

"It appears I was a little late," Eli said "Morpheus, let's go!"

"Not this time!" I yelled, sending a huge ball of light

It struck him square on, knocking him up the stairs. He backfired and caught himself, sending a wave at me. I tossed it to the side and sent another beam of light, almost hitting him. I rushed again, keeping my sword high, but he was slightly quicker than me, and managed to cut my calf. I gritted my teeth and forced myself on, the pain burning at my leg.

"Antonio!" I heard Reyna yell

I risked a quick glance behind me, finding Reyna pinned under Morpheus. Antonio was trying to get up after being smashed through a bench and making a dent in the stone wall, the girl was fending off a group of Telkhines that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. I sent a blast of silver light at Morpheus, knocking him off of Reyna, but it had cost me. Eli kicked me from behind and sent me flying down the stairs, where I landed in a painful heap.

"Retreat!" Eli yelled "This is not a fight we can win!"

Morpheus darted past me before I could even fully get to my feet, the Telkhines weren't so lucky. I came up swinging my sword, taking three of them down in the same swipe. The other two tried to dart around me, but the girl struck them both in the back with an arrow. I turned back towards Eli, who had opened a portal at the top of the stairs. Morpheus stepped through, and Eli went to follow him, but turned back suddenly.

"I know you don't believe me," He said "But this really is the only way."

"The only way for what?" I demanded

"Survival," He said simply "Raven, we're all going to die if we try to stand against Ouranos, we can't prevent that."

"You can't know that for sure," I said desperately "Eli, you're not thinking straight."

"No!" He yelled at me in anger "That's your problem, Raven. You never want to try and see the bigger picture, you're always thinking of yourself."

"Who, besides Ouranos, does you betraying us benefit?" I asked him "You're doing the very thing we were born to stop."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand." He said, turning away

Just before he stepped into the portal, he cast one last glance back to me, and I made eye contact with him. That's when I noticed something I should've noticed long beforehand, golden eyes. They hadn't been like that before, but now they were. In that moment, I was sure that Eli was still inside, fighting for control of his own body, I had been right. He stepped through the portal and disappeared immediately afterwards, leaving me, Reyna, Antonio, and that girl alone.

"I'm sorry," A voice said gently from behind me "I know you want to help him."

I turned to find the girl standing behind me, her bow hanging loosely in her fingertips. I was beginning to notice features about her I had not before, things that every hunter should immediately recognize. Her nose, it looked just like Eli's, and the way she continuously brushed her hair behind her ear like Kayla, the way her eyes always seemed to be darting back and forth like my mother.

"Who are you?" I asked her

"I'll only have time for a brief explanation," She said quickly "We can go get a motel room or something and I can explain it there much better."

"Okay, give me the short version." I sighed as Antonio and Reyna arrived next to us

"My name is Lacey Alistair," She said "I'm fourteen years old, but at the moment I'm not even born, as a matter of fact, my father was born not that long ago."

"I'll need more than that." I said, making a go on gesture

"I was sent back in time to help you," She said "Eli is my grandfather, you're my great uncle."

I'll admit, that threw me off my game by quite a bit. I had expected something along the lines of 'I'm a rogue demigod and I saw you were in trouble so I decided to help you' or something along those line, but definitely not that. With no response coming to mind, I simply said the first thing that went through my head.

"Fuck my life." I groaned

Antonio:

After we left the train station, Lacey bought the four of us a motel room. The guy at the front desk didn't pay any attention to us, he was too busy watching the news report on the terrorist attack committed by four teenagers at the train station only a few miles from here.

"So," Raven said, sitting down on the bed "Explain."

"First of all, if you don't believe me," She said, handing him a letter and a picture "Here, you told me this would make you trust me."

He looked at the picture and paled, as if he suddenly didn't feel so good. He opened the letter gingerly, as if afraid what he would find. Reyna and I waited with bated breath, watching while he read it. Once he was done he handed it to me and Reyna to read, knowing our curiosity.

 _-Raven_

 _Since I don't think you'll believe Lacey at first (I know I didn't) I've enclosed this letter to help explain things. You see, you're going to need Lacey's help to stop Eli. You alone are not strong enough, and Reyna and Antonio will have their own scores to settle inside the dream world. I know you don't want to hear this, but you must kill Eli. You can't help him, Kronos has him too far under his control, the only way out is death. I understand if you still don't believe me, I still had my doubts after reading the letter. If anything, please take into consideration the words I have spoken to you, I know what I'm talking about._

 _-Raven (From the future)_

 _P.S Amber says don't do anything stupid!_

"So, do you believe me?" Lacey asked

"This is my handwriting," Raven said, taking the letter back from us "I guess I believe you."

"Well that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." Lacey said, taking a sip from her Coke

"I've gotten quite used to weird shit," Raven groaned, laying back "Antonio, you got any weed?"

"I got a little," I said, digging around the bottom of my bag "Like five grams."

"That's a little?" Lacey asked

"For us," I shrugged "Yeah it is."

"Oh yeah," She said, rolling her eyes "Matt and Kyle are definitely your kids."

"Who?" I asked, handing Raven the bag

He sat up and grabbed a swisher out of his bag, heading into the bathroom to get something to roll on. I, in the meantime, was stuck on why this strange girl was talking about me having children. Sure I'd thought about it, but hopefully it wouldn't actually happen for a few years.

"Your sons, Matt and Kyle," She explained "Two biggest stoners I've ever met in my life. They have literally none of Reyna in them, it's all you. They even look just like you."

"I'm sorry," Reyna said, making a timeout gesture "What?"

"Ohhhh," Lacey said quietly "You guys aren't together yet."

"We get together?" Reyna and I asked at the same time, turning red

"Percy and Jason owe me fifty drachmas." Raven called from the bathroom

"You guys were taking bets?" I demanded "Bitch, do I get to see any of that?"

"Fuck no," He laughed, walking back out with a tray "You ain't gonna see shit except these hands you fuck with my money folk."

"Well," Lacey said, letting out a small giggle "Piper was right, you guys _are_ cute together."

"Shut up." Reyna growled at her

"You always said Reyna didn't warm up to you quickly." Lacey laughed

Raven cracked up and fell to the floor, rolling. I threw a pillow at his face to shut him up, which did the trick long enough for him to get the blunt rolled. I noticed Reyna had moved away from sitting next to me on the bed to all the way across the room, glaring angrily at Lacey.

"Sorry," Lacey whispered to me "I thought Annabeth said sixteen."

"Don't worry about it." I sighed, taking the blunt from Raven

I sparked a lighter to it and took a hit, inhaling it deep, trying to forget the embarrassing moment I'd just had. I would talk to Reyna later, but for now I'd rather just pretend it never happened. I passed to Raven and turned on the TV, which was tuned into the local news.

"These are pictures of the four teenagers in question," The news lady was saying "Anyone with information is asked to call Crime stoppers."

They flashed security camera shots of each of our faces, the mist very clearly at work inside them. The one of Raven looked like he was holding an RPG, the ones of Reyna and I looked like we were strapped with C4, and the one of Lacey looked like she had an AK-47.

"In other news, protesters are at it again in Brooklyn," She continued "We now go live on the scene to a local reporter, George Parker."

The camera switched to show a man in a brown suit with a mustache and short hair, he stood on a four way intersection in front of some train tracks. All around him, people were crowding together, holding signs with names and faces on them. Some had signs like "Stop the violence!" or "Our children are not soldiers!" and other things.

"Gang violence between the Crips and Bloods has died down while the streets are filled with people from both sides protesting the violence," He began "Mothers, Fathers, Sons, Daughters, Brothers, Sisters, Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles have gathered through the streets with pictures of loved ones lost in the gang wars."

"Man shut the fuck up," Raven said, passing me the blunt "In a week these motherfuckers'll be back at eachother's throats, watch."

The camera switched again and showed several boys holding up blue and red flags tied together, each sporting Crip and Blood tattoos. It appeared that even some of the gang members agreed with the mobs of people next to them, and they didn't care if the world knew it.

"I'm here with Loretta Perry," He said, taking a dark skinned woman by the hand "Who lost both of her sons and her daughter to the violence, will you tell us what happened."

Loretta had white hair, and stress lines under her eyes. She wore a shirt with the faces of two teenage boys and a young girl on it, her kids. Raven paled when he seen one of them, and he seemed to recognize him.

"I had two twin boys," The woman said, tears in her eyes "They joined the Bloods a few years ago. I never said anything about it because I was always so busy I didn't have time for the argument. Both of them were killed at the same time in a drive by shooting by Crips, the same one that killed my daughter during a misfire."

"You know one of them?" I asked Raven

"I pulled the trigger," He said quietly "I took out one of them for sure, maybe two of them, possibly even all three of them. There was four of us shooting."

I didn't say anything, didn't figure I had to. I shut the TV off and we sat in silence, digesting the day we had just had. I'd wager a guess to say that it had been right up there with one of the busiest days I'd had as a demigod, and I really wasn't looking forward trying to top it.

Reyna:

As I figured he would, Antonio came to talk to me later that night after Raven and Lacey had fallen asleep. I had left the room, thinking he too was asleep, to stand outside in the fresh air for a little bit and clear my head. I stood on the balcony outside our second story motel room, keeping an eye out for monsters, but mostly thinking about what Lacey had said.

"Mind if I join you?" I heard Antonio say from behind me

I had been so distracted I hadn't even heard the door open, and now I was trapped. I kept my cool and just shrugged, inviting him to either leave or stay at his own leisure. He stepped up next to me, looking out over the parking lot with me and I could sense he was working up the nerve to say something.

"Sooooo," He said, clearing his throat "About earlier-"

"Do we have to talk about this?" I asked him

"I mean, I guess we don't," He shrugged "It just seemed like something we should talk about."

"What's there to talk about?" I asked, rolling my eyes in frustration "It sounds like we're gonna end up together, so why not just start dating?"

"Ummmmm." Antonio stammered, his face turning red

"I didn't mean-" I began, feeling my face turn red too

"It's fine," He said "Look, I don't know what Lacey was talking about in there, I really don't. It has something to do with us, clearly, and we'll figure it out when we have time."

"Or we could figure it out now," I told him "That way, it doesn't come around and bite one of us in the ass later."

"How do you propose we figure it out?" He asked

I thought for a moment, weighing my options. Did I like Antonio? As a friend, of course. I considered Antonio my friend, he had saved my life, why wouldn't I? Did I like him as something more? This was a much harder question, and one I would've very much liked an answer too.

"I don't know," I said "I really don't."

"There's gotta be some way we can figure it out," He said "By the way, what are we trying to figure out again?"

"Weather or not we have... _feelings_ for one another." I said, struggling to get the words out of my mouth

"Ugh," He groaned "I hate this high school drama bullshit."

"Me too," I said "But it kinda got dumped onto us."

"We could just ignore it." He suggested

"Ignoring things never works out for demigods," I told him "Trust me."

"Reyna, this isn't like you," He said "You're tripping over shit I don't think you normally would."

"No, I normally wouldn't," I agreed "But when somebody comes, supposedly from the future, and says you're going to have kids with the boy you're sitting next to, it tends to throw a knot in your day."

He paused, looking as if he was working up the nerve to do something. I turned away from him and stared over the parking lot again, trying my hardest to avoid his gaze. I felt him shuffling his feet behind me, and after several agonizing moments, he finally spoke.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked "If there's anything between us, do you really want to know?"

"It would put my mind at ease," I said, turning back towards him "Why? What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I'm curious too," He started slowly "But you gotta promise you won't punch me."

"Okay," I said, wondering what he was thinking "I promise I'm not going to hit you. What did you have in mind?"

"This." He said, placing a finger under my chin and lifting my head

Before I could register what he was doing, he kissed me. I won't lie, I had felt a connection between the two of us, but I wasn't quite sure and I was content to pretend I felt nothing at all, until that kiss. The second our lips touched, I melted. I am by no means a girly girl, in no way, shape, or form. I don't giggle, jump up and down with excitement, or anything else. I felt a thousand different emotions I had never felt before, I wanted to giggle like a little girl, and I nearly did. When we finally broke apart, we simply looked into eachother's eyes.

"Have you figured it out yet?" He asked me

"I think so," I said, still feeling dizzy from the kiss "You?"

"Yeah," He said, smiling slightly "I got it."

 **Alright guys, so I bet so many fan girls that cried for Reyna during the books are crying again with joy. Or maybe some of you are like "He smokes weed, Antonio is a horrible person." Nah, you know who's a horrible person? Adolf Hitler, now there's an asshole. This fool had millions of people executed for barely any reason, so fuck your reasons to hate Antonio. And I might still decide to be an asshole and maybe Antonio or Reyna will die, you never know, I do things like that. Anyways, God bless ya'll, read and review, remember, as of April 15, 2016 I will be changing my penname to Just Somedude.**


	10. Chapter 10: Time to leave

**Hey guys, how is everybody doing on this fine evening? So I'm not sure what all to say, read and review please, God bless. And don't forget to head over to booksie, (gotta stick an ole dot with a com in there too) and check out my new book Earned in blood. I'm under the name Just Somedude over there, so hit that up. God bless.**

Chapter 10: Time to leave

Antonio:

The next morning my lips were still tingling, wasn't quite sure if it was good or bad. I won't deny that the short time I had known Reyna, we had become alright friends, even Iris messaged a few times over the months, but she was definitely the last girl I ever thought I'd be kissing.

"Wake and bake?" Raven laughed, coming out of the bathroom as I was lighting a joint

"Wake and buzz," I shrugged "I ain't getting ripped just in case we got shit to do."

Raven shrugged and took the joint as I passed it, sitting down next to me. Reyna was still asleep on the bed across the room, and Lacey was too. There were two beds in the room, a couch, and a recliner. Raven pulled the coffee table up next to the recliner and slept there, Reyna and Lacey slept on the beds, and I slept on the couch. My back hurt from sleeping on the couch, but I'd been in worse pain before so I didn't complain.

"You two are gonna have police kicking down the door," Reyna groaned, sitting up "I bet everybody around us can smell that."

"That's how you know it's good weed." Raven laughed, passing it back to me

Reyna avoided eye contact with me, but she had a very small smile on her face as she walked into the bathroom. Raven was playing with Impurity, tossing the lighter up and down in the air. He moved his eyebrows up and down at me, he knew what had happened.

"So," He said, grinning "How was it."

"Shut up." I grumbled

There was no point in playing dumb, he already knew. I'll give him one thing, he may be really stupid at times, but there ain't much that gets past him. He put his hands up, still grinning at me. I passed him the joint and smacked the back of his head, flipping him off as I did so.

"Seriously," He said "How was it?"

"She ain't a bad kisser," I shrugged "I'd go for round two."

Raven and I both busted out laughing, unable to stop. Reyna came out of the bathroom and looked at us, her eyes darting back and forth between us, trying to figure out why we were laughing. Eventually she just rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed, flicking on the TV and going through the channels.

"How long do we have this room for?" I asked

"Until noon," Raven said "I say we stay here until then, soak up as much relaxation time as we can."

"Try and remember we're now wanted criminals," Reyna said "They have shots of our faces and think we blew up a train station, so please don't draw us any unwanted attention."

"No promises." Raven shrugged

Reyna rolled her eyes and started flicking through channels again, losing herself in the mortal world of TV. I started thinking about a plan, trying to figure out what to do and where to go. We had made it to Nevada, but had no way to get all the way to LA.

"Okay so we're officially out of mortal money," Raven said "So I see two options."

"Which are?" I asked

"We can either foot it the rest of the way to LA and find a the entrance to the Underworld," He said "Or option B."

"What's option B?" Reyna asked

"There's a gas station just around the corner," He said "I can go in, scope it out, wait an hour, then go back in and-"

"Rob it?" I asked "Are you fucking crazy? We're wanted, they have our fucking pictures you dumbass!"

"Do you want to walk to LA and just hope Eli doesn't find the potion before we get there?" He asked me

"I really hate to admit this," Reyna said "But he has a point. A few hundred dollars could buy all four of us a taxi ride right into LA."

"Look," Raven said "Don't worry, I've got a flag to cover my face."

"Alright," I groaned "Please don't fuck it up."

"I've robbed countless stores in my life," He said, getting to his feet "This'll be a piece of cake."

Raven:

The gas station wasn't very impressive, but I couldn't do it alone. As soon as I walked in, I noticed three things instantly. Cameras, no way for me to control the crowd and the cashier on my own, and a loaded shotgun under the counter. I walked towards the back like I was going to restroom, peeking behind the counter as I did so. Instantly, I spied a twelve gauge pump action shotgun sitting on a shelf under the counter.

"Fuck." I muttered

I went back to the motel to find that Lacey had now woken up, and had been filled in on the plan. She didn't seem the least bit surprised that I had thought of this plan, but she seemed extremely reluctant to go along with it.

"So?" Antonio asked the second I walked in "Can you do it?"

"Yeah," I said "But I'm gonna need help."

"What kind of help?" Reyna asked

"Help like somebody is gonna need to put on a mask and control the crowd while I get the money." I told them

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Antonio groaned "Man, if one of us goes down-"

"We're not going to," I said, cutting him off "I'll get you a mask and a paper bag."

"The fuck am I gonna do with a paper bag?" He asked

"Put it over your hand," I explained "People won't know if there's actually a gun in there or not, hopefully nobody wants to find out."

"Alright fuck it," Antonio said "Let's do it, before I come to my senses."

"That's the spirit." I laughed

Reyna and Lacey said nothing while I searched the motel for something Antonio could use as a mask, finding nothing. I went with plan B and took a shirt from my bag, showing him how to tie it around his face. We waited another forty five minutes before setting out. I was a bit excited, I hadn't done something like this in a while, and I was definitely looking forward to it.

"Okay," I said, heading to walk out the door "Reyna and Lacey, you guys stay here and wait for us. With any luck, we'll be back in about thirty minutes, if everything goes okay."

"More than happy to stay out of this one." Lacey said, laying down on the bed

I motioned Antonio to follow me and we headed out the door, moving quickly, trying not to draw attention. The both of us wore black hoodies, not easily identifiable. It covered my tattoos and, once I put the hood up, it would be hard to get a decent look at my eyes.

"That's it," I said once we turned the corner "That one right there, you ready?"

"Yeah," He said, cracking his neck "I got this."

"Okay, there's a Subway connected to it, so there's a small crowd in there," I told him "Once we get inside, keep that bag on your hand and point it at the crowd, tell them all to get down and make sure you keep the bag pointed at them."

"No problem." He said

"If any of them tried anything, try blasting a little fire at them," I said "Then we'll get the fuck out of there."

"Got it," He said "Anything else?"

"Just one more thing," I said, taking my bandanna out of my pocket "The cashier has a shotgun under the counter."

"A what?" Antonio exclaimed "This nigga is packing heat and you-"

"Let me worry about him." I said, waving him off

Antonio stayed quiet and tied his mask around his face, pulling up his hood as he did so. I did the same and put my bandanna on, nodding to him. He gave me a nod back and I threw the door to the gas station open, leveling my gun at the cashier.

"Everybody on the fucking ground!" Antonio yelled, running to the side to cover the crowd "Now!"

"You!" I yelled at the cashier "Back the fuck up!"

"Don't shoot!" He yelled, putting his hands up "Please!"

"Get the money!" I told him "Out of the cash register! DO IT!"

"Okay! Okay!" He yelled, panicking

He opened up the register and began pulling money out of it, laying it on the counter. I grabbed wads of it and stuffed it in my pockets, keeping my gun pointed at him. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder to Antonio, who had the crowd well under control.

"Stay down!" He yelled at a guy "You move again I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

"A!" I yelled to him "I got the money!"

"Let's go!" He said, turning away from the crowd

"Hold on!" I said, turning back to the cashier "Give me the carton of Marlboro reds right there, and I'm taking these Twizzlers too!"

"Nigga! This is not a fucking munchies run!" Antonio yelled "The fuck are you doing?"

"Act like you ain't hungry." I said, tossing him the Twizzlers

The cashier handed me the cigs and I turned away to leave, making for the door. As I reached the door, my instinct screamed for me to get down. I shoved Antonio out to door and dove to the side just as a shotgun blast sounded. I turned and fired two quick shots back, striking him twice in the stomach. I looked out the door and saw Antonio getting to his feet, his right shoulder covered in blood.

"You hit?" I asked, running out the door

"No, my shoulder was like this when we walked in!" He yelled sarcastically "The fuck does it look like?"

"Grit your teeth," I said "We'll get some nectar on it in a minute, come on!"

He held his hand pressed to his shoulder and bolted after me, trying his best to keep up with me. I heard sirens and realized we had gotten out of there just in time, police cars came whipping around the corner just as we slipped into the alley.

"The description will be two kids in black hoodies," I said "We gotta lose these hoodies."

I tore mine off and helped Antonio get his off, throwing them on the ground. Antonio let out a small ball of fire at them, incinerating them instantly. We continued on around the block, ducking cop cars as we went. Soon, the motel was just across the street. I looked back at Antonio, who had now paled quite a bit.

"You good?" I asked him "Can you make it?"

"I-" He choked, struggling to get the words out "I don't feel so good man."

With those words, he slumped forward. I caught him just as he fell, unconscious. I was able to get a look at his shoulder, it was covered in blood and he was losing quite a bit. I supported him on my shoulder and hauled ass across the street, praying I wasn't seen. The motel was generally empty and I was able to get to our room without attracting attention, but then I realized I didn't have a key. I banged frantically on the door, hoping Reyna and Lacey hadn't gone out somewhere.

"Oh my gods!" Lacey exclaimed, opening the door "What happened?"

"Guy behind the counter had a shotgun," I said, dragging Antonio inside "Hit him in the shoulder, we need some nectar or something."

"I've got a little bit," Reyna said "But it's literally all I have left."

"Put it on him!" I said, putting Antonio on the bed

Reyna pulled his shirt off and quickly went to work, rubbing nectar all over his shoulder. She worked frantically, knowing he had already lost a lot of blood. I stood back and let Reyna work, trying to look on the bright side.

"At least we got the money," I said aloud, more to convince myself than anything "He'll be fine."

Son of a bitch, I was hoping that would work.

Reyna:

It was about thirty minutes before Antonio came to, by that time I had sent Raven and Lacey downstairs to get us checked out. It started slowly, his eyes opening, scanning the room, landing on me. He broke into a grin and gave forth a weak laugh, his voice sounding raspy.

"Well," He laughed "Aren't you a pretty sight to wake up to?"

Was he hitting on me? I had no idea and chose to ignore the comment, instead punching him in the arm, affectionately of course. This only made him laugh harder, which eventually forced even a smile to my face. It was nearly impossible to be serious around him, and for as long as I lived I never was able to be serious for long.

"I'm glad you're not dead," I told him "You almost bled out."

"Me too," He said, sitting up "What time is it?"

"Almost noon," I told him "We should've checked out an hour ago."

"Fuck!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet "Let's-"

That was as far as he got before he paled suddenly and leaned over to throw up in the trashcan. I rolled my eyes and stood by, waiting for him to finish. When he finally had finished, he looked up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Go." He finished weakly, sitting back down

"Why don't we wait until Raven and Lacey get back," I said, sitting down "And we can move at our own pace."

"We ain't got no time for that." He said

"We'll have to make time," I told him "You should be feeling better here in a while."

As soon as the words left my mouth, a knock came from the door. I crossed the room and opened it, finding Raven and Lacey standing outside. I let them in and grabbed my bag off the couch, tossing Antonio his. Raven sat down in the armchair by the TV and cleared his throat, causing us all to turn for him.

"Okay," He said "So what's the plan?"

"We take the money we got from the store, get a taxi, and get to LA," Lacey shrugged "I thought we'd agreed on that."

"Well yeah," Raven said "But we can't all just hop in a taxi with suddenly enough money for a taxi to LA, not with a store just getting robbed this morning."

"Why not?" Antonio asked "Stores used to get robbed all the time back home, the rarely caught the guys that did it, and I would see them go spend two or three hundred dollars right after the robbery."

"Dude, I lived in the hood and you lived in the projects," Raven said "That's different, that happens all the time out there and nobody gives a shit. This is a small town and this probably rarely happens, they're probably still looking for us."

"We're also gonna have to leave this town to get a cab," I said, realizing what he was getting at "We can't just grab a taxi in this town after a store got robbed."

"Plus, we're wanted for terrorism," Lacey reminded us "We'll have to keep our faces covered."

"So, what?" I asked, thinking "We all get separate cabs?"

"Maybe." Raven shrugged

I wondered what we would do if one of us was to be spotted and then got arrested, obviously we would have to have somebody fix this whole terrorism mess for us, but that wasn't exactly top priority. I noticed Antonio's color was beginning to return, it was time to make up our minds and then leave.

"We'll get two cabs," I said, finalizing my plan "Exactly thirty minutes apart, two to a cab."

"I'll go with Raven," Lacey said "Reyna and Antonio, you two follow us."

"How much will a cab all the way to LA cost?" Antonio asked

"I'd say around four hundred," Raven said, going through the stack of money "Here's five, you guys can get food or something while you're waiting."

"Will do," Antonio said, taking the money and clapping hands with Raven "See you in LA."

"Hopefully," Raven laughed "I'm gonna be really pissed off if I don't."

Antonio laughed and Raven walked out the door, closely followed by Lacey. I found myself a bit lost in thought, what was going on back at camp? Frank had no doubt taken the Romans back to Camp Jupiter by now, and he was probably awaiting my return. I still dwelled on the prophecy too, I would be pulled away because of my duty to my friends, what did that mean?

"Well," Antonio said, stretching "We've got about thirty minutes to kill, what should we do."

"How about some food?" I asked him, nodding to the money in his hand "There's a Burger King across the street."

He nodded and the two of us left the room, for good this time. We still had our backpacks but I figured that it wouldn't raise too much suspicion, at least we hadn't brought Ladon along with us. Although, I suppose if we had then we wouldn't be trying to get cabs to LA. We entered the Burger King and the smell of food immediately hit me, it was the best feeling I'd had in a few days.

"You get the food," Antonio whispered to me "I'm gonna go use the bathroom real quick, just a Whopper, a large drink, and some chicken fires."

I nodded and he walked away to the bathrooms, leaving me alone. I scanned the room, utilizing my demigod instincts that I had developed so keenly, looking for threats. I found none although I did see a group of boys staring at me with interest, but I dismissed them as horny teenagers rather than hungry monsters, although there isn't much of a difference between the two, I was quite confident I could handle them either way.

"Next!" The lady behind the counter called

I placed our order and waited a minute, it didn't take very long for it to come out. Antonio was just leaving the bathroom when I picked up our tray and headed to our table. He took our cups and went to get drinks, returning just a second later with two large Dr. Peppers.

"I have the munchies so bad." He said, digging into his burger

"Me too," I said "I haven't eaten much in the last couple of days."

Yeah," He said awkwardly "I know."

"We never did get to really talk the other night," I said, treading carefully "I mean, our 'talk' didn't exactly last very long."

"Well I thought we had settled it," He said, giving a cocky grin "Very expertly if I might add."

"Shut up," I laughed "Gods, you are soooo annoying."

"You never punched me," He shrugged "So I assume I can't be that annoying."

"Would you _like_ me to punch you?" I asked him, raising my eyebrow

"You hit like a girl." He taunted

"When we leave," I warned him "I'm taking you behind that alley and mugging you."

"You gonna take me behind the alley to do something else to?" He joked

"That's it," I said, unable to keep a straight face "I'm gonna break your head wide open."

The both us busted out laughing, unable to contain ourselves. I normally would've never laughed at that, I probably would've punched anybody else who asked that, but Antonio had been getting away with quite a bit as of late. I didn't actually intend to go behind the alley and beat him up, but I did consider it for a moment.

"So," He said "Random change of topic, what do you think the mortals see when they look at my arm?"

Before I could answer him, the group of boys I had seen earlier approached us. There was four of them, each of them looking around our age. Antonio tensed, clearly anticipating a fight, but I kicked his leg under the table, telling him to calm down. If it came down to it, I could take down all four of them without Antonio getting involved, and I hated it when somebody else fought my battles for me.

"Can we help you?" I asked them

"Just wondering what a girl like you is doing in this part of town," One of them said "It gets...dangerous."

"Does it?" I asked, glaring at him "Thanks for the heads up, but I'm sure we can handle it. We're not gonna be here much longer anyways."

"That's a shame," Another said, dropping into the seat next to me "We'd like you stay a bit longer."

"Get away from her." Antonio growled at him in a low tone

"Oh sorry," He laughed, throwing his arm around me "This your girl? I got news for ya, she's my bitch tonight."

I snapped, but Antonio beat me to it. Before I could even do anything, Antonio was out of his seat, yanking the kid out of mine. The brawl that ensued was one of the most brutal I've ever seen in my life, and I saw Jason snap on Octavian once.

"HEY!" One of the guys behind the counter yelled

Antonio planted a fist to the kid's face, sending him flying back into the wall. The other three boys jumped Antonio, throwing him to the ground and kicking him. Antonio pushed one off and planted a foot to one of there temples, causing him to fall into the wall. Antonio had clearly been outnumbered in more than a few fights, as he seemed to know exactly how to take all four of them.

"STOP THEM!" Somebody yelled, rushing forward to get between them

People began trying to get between them, but Antonio was pissed. He punched somebody with his metal arm, busting his nose. He turned around, stomping the downed kid's face onto the floor, making a sickening crack. He began beating and kicking anybody within reach of him, weather they were one of the kid's or not.

"Antonio!" I yelled, trying to reach him

I punched a man who tried to stop me, then planted a low blow on a man who had grabbed him from behind. Six people were knocked out, four were beaten to the point of not getting up, and the whole restaurant was trying to restrain Antonio. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the mob, rushing out the front door, barely getting past the employee standing by it. I saw a woman inside calling the police, yelling frantically in her phone.

 _Just great,_ I thought _Now we really need to get the hell out of here._

Antonio:

Reyna kept pulling me until we were almost four blocks away from the Burger King, where police had clearly arrived. Reyna pulled me into an alley behind an abandoned set of shops, ducking down to be sure we weren't followed.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?" She demanded, turning on me "Do you realize we're already wanted? The shit you just pulled in there didn't help, I could've had that under control in less time with less blood! Instead, you decide you've got to play the whole Prince Charming coming to the rescue bullshit and left a bunch of people seriously injured! You're an idiot, Antonio!"

"I'm sorry," I said, sitting down "I don't know what happened, I just...snapped."

I was shaking, and I couldn't stop. Both of my hands had blood caked on the knuckles, and I found myself staring at my metal arm. It had the most blood on it, splattered all across my hand. Reyna sat down next to me, putting her arm around me. I had just lost control, those guys messing with Reyna just set me off.

"I could've handled it." Reyna said

"I know." I sighed

"It's alright, Antonio," She whispered gently "Let's just find a cab and get out of here."

I nodded and rose to my feet, following Reyna out of the alley. We walked quickly, trying to move without making too much of a scene. We weren't that far out, but people weren't yelling and trying to stop us, so I suppose that was a good thing.

"There's a cab," Reyna said, hailing it "Just get in and let's go."

The cab stopped and Reyna and I opened the door, jumping inside. It was a nice looking cab, nicer than most. It was clean, and the seats were comfortable, which I was grateful for because I was well aware it would be a very long drive.

"Where are you two headed?" He asked, looking at us in the mirror

"LA." I said, reaching in my pocket for the money

"Awful long drive for two kids," He said, eyeing us "Do your parents know where you're at?"

"Just get us to LA," I said, holding up the wad of money "And there'll be a bit extra in there for you."

"If you say so." He said with a grin

 **Alright guys, seriously we gotta get some reviews going. If you're reading this, drop a review and let me know how I'm doing please. I really don't want to finish the story and have somebody pop in and go "I didn't like this" or "I don't like how this character does this instead of that" or something like that. Anyways, God bless, I'm out.**


	11. Chapter 11: A few old friends

**Hey guys, I been here chilling and shit. Okay so there ain't much to say, so I'll just jump right into it. Please read and review and God bless.**

Chapter 11: A few old friends

Raven:

The trouble with being a demigod is that no matter how hard you try and stay out of trouble, it usually just finds you anyways. I'll admit, I might not have really tried that hard, but I didn't exactly ask for it. Lacey and I were seated in the back seat of the taxi, the privacy window up and the radio on.

"Recent reports have said the two suspects fled the scene and have been identified as two of the four teens in the bombing the other night." The reporter was saying

"Gee," Lacey said, rolling her eyes "I wonder who that could be."

"We left them alone for an hour," I muttered "Nigga can't even stay out of trouble for that long, and it sounds like he dragged Reyna into it."

Lacey shut the radio off and laid back in the seat, almost as if she was ready to fall asleep. I had hoped we would be in the dream realm by that night, and hopefully back home by morning. Bob must not've known about the dream world, or he would've said something, and that was the one thing the echoed in my thoughts, how could somebody not know they were in a dream realm? Was it just that supernatural?

"Hey," I said, trying to shake the thoughts for a moment "You mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Lacey shrugged "What'd you have in mind?"

"What am I like?" I asked "In the future, I mean."

"Well," She said thoughtfully "You're much less vulgar than you are now, you tend to watch your language around certain people. You don't smoke weed anymore as far as I know, and you're much more laid back."

"Laid back?" I asked "Meaning?"

"You seem much more relaxed and at peace with everything," She explained "Like, you could die the next day and you'd be totally okay with it. You once told me that you'd lived a good life, fought the good fight, and you were perfectly content with whatever time was yours."

That sounded almost nothing like me, nothing whatsoever. I wasn't content to just die tomorrow, I had things to do, people I had to stick around to protect. Or one person in particular, rather. Another thought occurred to me, one that could possibly change all those answers.

"Is Amber still alive?" I asked "And Eli?"

"Raven," She said sadly "I can't just tell you these things, you have to figure them out on your own. Revealing the future to you, here and now, could possibly change events, and I won't let that happen."

"You're here," I told her "Everything you do here affects the future."

"I know that," She said "But I was here before, when the version of you from my time was you from this time, and I need to be here now."

"Did you make it through?" I asked her "I know that the future me knows weather or not you made it back home, and I know you've asked."

"How would you know that?" She asked me

"Because it's exactly what I would do," I told her "You may not be a Crip, you may not be a direct child of Artemis, and you may not be a boy, but I get the sense that we're very similar, you and I."

She fell silent, looking out the window. I waited for her answer, and I knew what I had said was true. Lacey and I were a lot alike, in more ways than one. We were young, curious, naturally adventurous, and I could tell she felt the same need to protect the ones she cared about just as much as I did.

"I did ask," She finally said, her voice breaking "You said that you couldn't tell me, you swore on the River Styx that you would never breath a word of me or my involvement to _anybody_ until the time was right."

"But clearly it was the right time," I said, sensing there was more "I would've had to tell everybody about you being there if I was sending you back."

"I brought that up," She said "But you wouldn't answer me, you just kept looking at me. I gave you a hug before I left, and you held me so tight, and you wouldn't let me go."

Her voice broke, and tears sprung from her eyes. I had no clue what to say, she had just dropped a huge bomb on me, and I had no response ready for her. She had been sent back, willingly, by me. Who, by the sound of it, knew she was going to die.

"Listen," I said, putting my arm around her "I _won't_ let you die, you _will_ go home, do you understand?"

"Raven," She whispered "You can't fight the fates."

"No you can't," I agreed "But you can fend them off. Eventually, you're going to die, just like I'm going to die, but it _will not_ be here, and it _will not_ be now."

She didn't say anything else, but she didn't have to. I held her while she wept in the back seat, fearing for her own life. She was braver than I could ever be, willingly coming back to help me, all but knowing for sure that she was going to die. It made me really rethink my position as a hero, could I do the same if it was asked of me?

Amber:

Tyler and I spent a bit of time together after he was claimed as an Ares camper, a week of which was spent in the infirmary once Brad had gotten ahold of him. He respected my boundaries, and made no moves on me, knowing what Raven might do to him if he was to find out.

"You're worried about Raven?" He asked me one day, sitting alone on the beach "Aren't you?"

"I always am," I shrugged "I know he worries about me too, neither one of us tend to think much."

"He'll be fine," He assured me "I've never seen him fight, but I get the sense he knows his way around the blade."

"He's one of the best here with a sword," I laughed "Rivals Percy on a good day."

Percy had been teaching Tyler how to fight with a sword, but it wasn't coming along very well. Tyler was more of a spear person, and he was good at it too. He fended off Brad in the arena with one, almost beat him too.

"You love him?" Tyler asked "Don't you?"

"With everything I am," I answered instantly "He may not seem like much, but he makes my world so much brighter just by simply being around me."

"I know what you mean," Tyler sighed "I know exactly what you mean."

"I'm sorry, Tyler," I said "I never did apologize for what happened."

"I left," He shrugged "We had to break up, it's not like you cheated on me or anything."

"I know," I said "But I feel guilty, you got expelled over me."

"I was going for arrested and a lawsuit," He laughed "But you wouldn't get out of my way."

I laughed too, I remembered the day well. Some guy pushed me into the lockers, and he thought we were alone. Tyler was leaving his classroom right then, and it wasn't a pretty site. Ten minutes later, the kid who had grabbed me was unconscious and bleeding from his nose and mouth, while Tyler was being held down by several older students. He was expelled from school, and Tyler leaving was the only way to avoid charges for what he had done.

"Then what?" I asked him "Find out you're a demigod in jail and then get eaten by some monster posing as an inmate, I think I prefer this over that."

"Me too," He shrugged "But you never know, you meet some interesting people in jail."

I laughed again, imagining Tyler standing around in a cell, making friends with the people around him. Somehow, I just didn't think it would work out for him, but he seemed pretty confident in it. I wondered what Raven was doing at the moment, something really impulsive, no doubt. I had only known him for barely thinking, if at all, before he reacted to a situation, but I supposed it had saved is life more than once.

Reyna:

The ride was long, awkward, and very uncomfortable. The privacy window was rolled up so that Antonio and I could talk without the driver hearing us, but neither of us said much. I was still a bit startled over the way Antonio had reacted, and I was still a little pissed off that he hadn't just let me take care of it myself.

"Are you alright?" Antonio asked me

"Of course," I shrugged "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been awfully quiet." He said

"Since when have I been the talkative one?" I asked him

He shrugged, leaving me to myself once more. I chose the time to think about Lacey's words, and weather or not I could see myself with Antonio. That kiss the other night had been amazing, and I wanted to do it again, which bothered me. I didn't enjoy feeling this way and I would've rather just been alone for the rest of my life, maybe. I had been in love before, but with people that didn't love me back, which hurt very badly. Although Antonio and I hadn't actually come out and said it, I knew we both felt strong feelings for eachother, weather or not it was love, that was a different matter.

 _Why can't I just be left alone?_ I thought, annoyed _Why do petty problems always seem to bother me more than the real ones, like one of my Centurions suddenly being evil for instance?_

Antonio's words about no demigod healing my heart still echoed in my ears, and I had began to wonder if he was right. Of course, it wouldn't be good for us if we tried and then it didn't work out, friendships didn't tend to survive breakups, something I had seen firsthand.

"Okay, so can we agree on something?" Antonio asked me

"Depends on what it is." I said, wondering what he was thinking

"When we meet up with Raven and Lacey," He said "We ain't been to Burger King, I didn't brutally assault several people, unless they've already heard it on the radio, in which case it doesn't matter."

"I figure Raven would be proud of the way you beat down several people." I shrugged

"Probably," He sighed "But I say we just keep in on the low, nothing worth mentioning."

"If you say so." I laughed

I tried lightening his mood, cracking a few jokes, but to no avail. It was odd to have the roles reversed this way, as I was usually the one in a foul mood. Oddly enough, I grew to realize how similar Antonio and I were with the more time I spent with him. It's too bad he wasn't a Roman, he would've made a fine Praetor, with a little bit of training, when an inevitable opening came up.

"I hate this," Antonio muttered, drumming his fingers on the door "Being trapped in a car like this, especially with ADHD."

"Definitely isn't the ideal situation," I agreed "Don't worry, we'll be there before long."

It would be a long drive, and the both of us knew that getting into the cab, but we had no other way to get to LA, so this was the next best thing. Unfortunately, when we reached LA, we wouldn't exactly have time to stretch our legs.

Lacey:

Hours later, we finally arrived in LA. I knew that Reyna and Antonio couldn't be far behind us, and so Raven and I simply waited. After almost forty five minutes, I was beginning to get a little edgy, naturally. Raven brought me behind an alley and used an old water hose to send an Iris message to Percy, keeping me out of site, of course.

"Stay out of mattress stores," Percy was saying "Trust me."

"I ain't even gonna ask," Raven said, shaking his head "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Percy said "When you find Charon, paying him a little extra will make him more cooperate. Also, Cerberus likes red balls."

"What the hell did you do last time you were in the Underworld?" Raven demanded "I thought you came down here for the lightning bolt, now I'm hearing about mattress stores and red balls, what the fuck bro?"

"Hey," Percy shrugged "You know how random quests can get, you just spent the night in a motel, robbed a gas station, and took a cab all the way to LA."

"True." Raven shrugged

He and Percy talked for a moment longer before Percy had to disconnect the Iris message, leaving Raven and I alone behind the alley. Raven dug around in his pockets for a moment before coming up with a small handful of money, holding it up for me to see.

"Food?" He asked "There's a pizza place just around the corner, we're a few miles outside of Compton, I know this area pretty well."

"I thought you were from Brooklyn." I said, following him

"Yeah but we didn't just stay there all the time," He shrugged "A while back, a bunch of us took a road trip down here to hang with some of the Compton Capital Crips. Come to think of it, it's a wonder I didn't bump into Eli while I was down here, we did beef with the South Bompton Bloods a few times while we were here."

"Do you go anywhere without having problems with somebody?" I asked as we turned the corner

"Fuck no," He laughed "Everybody hates me, it's a gift."

We entered the pizza shop and headed to take our seats, keeping our eyes out for any monsters disguised as mortals. Raven ordered for us and we made our way to a booth in the back, trying our best not to draw any attention. We sat down quickly, keeping our heads low and scoring nothing more than few curious glances from kids wondering who we were.

"Really good thing I've got a hoodie on covering up my tattoos." Raven said, nodding to somewhere behind me

I looked back quickly to see a group of boys seated at the very back, not paying attention to us. They were wearing red and white shirts, red hats, and had red bandannas hanging out of their pockets. I noticed one had a tattoo on his knuckle that read: Piru Gang. Another had a tattoo on his arm that said: Bompton Piru. One turned and gave Raven a look, as though he might've recognized him, and glared.

"Fucking Slobs," Raven muttered "Bust a cap in that fool's bitch ass he eye me like that again."

"Please try and stay calm," I told him "I'm really not trying to get into a gun fight today."

Our pizza came and we ate quietly, keeping our heads low still, trying to avoid any unwanted attention. We received none, right up until we walked out of the shop. When we finished our pizza, we threw our plates away and walked out the front door, only this time, we had a tail. The Bloods that had been inside had followed us out the door, and around the corner, and down the street.

"Those guys are following us." I whispered to Raven

"I know," He said, nodding ahead "There's an alley just around this corner, we're gonna slip into it and I want you to hide, I'll take care of these dudes."

"Like hell you are," I hissed "We either take them together, or we run."

"Listen to me," Raven said "I'll take care of them, you just need to stay out of sight and try not to be noticed. You're from the future and you attacking these guys could probably fuck shit up somehow someway."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I could start a nuclear apocalypse if I stepped on a spider, the last thing I wanted to do was mess up my timeline. Raven could handle these guys, there was only three of them. They wouldn't be any match for a demigod as powerful as Raven, especially considering the fact that he was a son of Artemis, he would wipe the floor with them.

"In there." Raven said, pointing to a dumpster as we rounded the corner

It wasn't my ideal hiding place, but it would have to work. I jumped inside just before the Bloods came walking around the corner, completely missing the alley we had slipped into. But Raven wasn't going to just let them go, because they were clearly on the hunt for us.

"Looking for me?" Raven asked them, stepping out from the shadows

Raven:

"I knew I recognized you," One of the Bloods growled "You're from Brooklyn, you was down here hanging with them Krab ass niggas, wasn't you?"

"Fuckin' A right I was nigga," I laughed "What's it to you?"

"You killed my baby bro," The guy growled, pulling a gun from his waistband "I'm gonna smoke you like a loud pack, you know that nigga?"

"Fuck you, Slob!" I laughed again, pulling my gun too "Think I ain't with the shits? I'll make one phone call and have every single one of ya'll asses hit, loc."

"Don't call me loc, Krab!" The same guy said angrily "I want war with you nigga."

"Then come get one." I said, raising my weapon

I squeezed first, barely missing his head, and we all scattered. Turns out, every one of them had a strap and were aiming to kill. I hit one in the leg but he didn't stay down, and I wasn't trying to add a body count while we were on a quest, not if I could help it. We banged it out for a few minutes before I saw other Bloods joining the fight, and I realized how outnumbered I was. I didn't realize exactly _where_ I was, I just knew the general area. Turns out, I wasn't just near their turf, I was right in the middle of it.

"Fuck," I muttered, seeing several Bloods running up the street behind me "Lacey! Let's go!"

The lid to the dumpster banged open and Lacey shot out, ducking her head and sprinting down the alley. I fired off my last three regular rounds and took off after her, praying that she didn't run out into the street and get sprayed.

"THEY GOING THAT WAY!" One of the Bloods yelled "I WANT THAT FUCKING BITCH ON A SLAB!"

 _You and your stupid fucking Crip ego!_ I scolded myself _You couldn't just keep the dumb shit to a minimum, it'll be your motherfucking karma do get capped right the fuck now._

"Raven!" Lacey yelled back "Which way!"

"Just keep going!" I yelled "We'll cross into Crip turf soon!"

I hoped we were going in the right direction, but I couldn't be sure, I could only see red for the moment. Lacey ducked a shot and kicked a Blood in the face, hopping the fence to a house and heading through the yard, with me close on her ass.

"I see blue!" Lacey yelled "A lot of them!"

I could see them too, and I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe gang neighborhoods were no place for somebody like Lacey, but it was a lot better than hanging around in Blood turf. Some of the Crips were just hanging around, others were sitting on cars, but they all jumped up when they heard the gunshots.

"YO CUZ!" I yelled, running into the street "A LITTLE FUCKIN HELP!"

"Who the fuck is you, white boy?" One of them demanded, pulling a weapon

"Oh shit!" Another laughed "Joker? What's up with your ass?"

"Hey Cuz," I said, waving him off "Listen, we got a mess of Slobs on our asses, hardcore right now."

"Oh shit!" Another Crip yelled "I see them mothafuckas!"

"Lacey!" I yelled "Get down! I need a clip!"

Somebody threw me a clip and I slapped it in my gun, firing it as Bloods ran up the street. People scattered all around as gunshots cut through the night, and for a moment, I was worried I was gonna have more blood on my hands, but then I realized everybody was falling back.

"Them niggas getting out of here!" One of the Crips yelled "Let's get after em!"

"Nah!" A guy I recognized, Dab, yelled "Hold up man, fuck em!"

Everything began to calm down, and I breathed a bit easier for the moment. I couldn't believe the amount of dumb shit I'd been into during the last forty eight hours. Robbing banks, gunfights, I couldn't be doing shit like that anymore. I wasn't a Crip, but I kept on acting like it. Whenever I saw Bloods, I fought them, shot at them, _something_ always seemed to go down.

"Shit, Joker," Dab laughed "It's good to see you."

"You too homie," I laughed "Shit, been a minute."

"What's yo crazy ass doing back in Compton?" He laughed, clapping me on the back

"A bit of personal business," I told him "I didn't mean to get into trouble with those Bloods, well, actually I kinda did."

"Where's Free and Money?" He asked "I miss Money, that nigga smoked out the whole damn block. Probably enough to kill Willy fucking Nelson."

"They're dead." I said shortly, trying to push away the memory

Dab's face fell, and he nodded his understanding. Dab was a good dude, and I was glad he wasn't dead yet. He was only sixteen, but he had been friends with Diego for a little while, as Dab was originally from Flat Junction, and Diego, Money, Free, and I had all come down here to hand out with Dab.

"Still tryna become a rapper?" I asked him

"Yeah man," He laughed "Just dropped my new tape, Compton Wax, sold pretty good."

"You branching out?" I asked

"Shit," He said, shaking his head "Can't really sell much outside the block, got shot at the other night walking through Blood turf with a bag full of tapes, dropped the bag and lost about seventy or eighty of em."

"So what's this business you got down here?" Another Crip I didn't recognize asked me

"Personal," I said "Look man, thanks for the help, but we really should get going."

"You ain't even gonna smoke a blunt?" Dab asked me

I won't lie, I hesitated. I really needed to calm myself down, sit back a second and think, but I didn't have that luxury. Besides, Dab's nickname had come from the fact that he loved smoking Moonrocks, and I really couldn't be going into battle high off that shit.

"I can't," I said, shaking my head "Maybe after I take care of my shit, I might roll back through."

"Alright cuz," Dab nodded, using the old handshake Free, Money, and I had made up so long ago "Take care of yourself."

"Will do." I nodded, motioning for Lacey to follow me

Just like that, as quick as it had all began, it was over. Antonio and Reyna should've been arriving at the entrance to the Underworld right about then, and I knew we had to get there quickly. We were only a few blocks away, so we had to get there quick, maybe just act like nothing happened.

"Well that was," Lacey paused, searching for the right word "Interesting. Mind if I-"

"I do, actually," I snapped, cutting her off "I'd rather you just not ask about how I wound up being friends with Dab, or about that guy's little brother."

Lacey fell silent, walking behind me. The truth was, I had saved Dab's life from that kid. He had Dab pinned against the wall, his gun pressed into his temple, and I just so happened to be heading off to the gas station to get something to drink. Long story short, I've caught eight bodies from Brooklyn, and one in Compton.

 **Okay guys, so this chapter had a bit of slow going. But I felt that since Antonio and Reyna had a crazy stupid adventure, Raven and Lacey should too. Obviously Raven and Lacey's was a bit more crazy, but it's all good. So until next time, please read and review, God bless.**


	12. Chapter 12: The prophecy unfolds

**I'm not even really gonna have much to say, I just want to get to the writing guys. So please read and review, and as always, God bless.**

Chapter 12: The prophecy unfolds

Antonio:

Naturally, when we stepped out of the cab, things were crazy. We were almost a block away from the entrance to the Underworld, right on the street Raven had told us to go to, but Raven and Lacey were nowhere to be found, and in their place was a swarm of reporters and cops.

"Fuck!" I hissed, "Reyna, let's move!"

"The shooters fled into Crip territory followed closely by Blood gang members," A woman was saying "After a brief shootout, Police arrived and the gang members scattered. Reports say that the shooters were two of the four suspects in the terrorist attack on a small Nevada train station last night."

"Motherfucker!" I hissed "Shit! We've gotta get out of here Reyna, this whole fucking town is crawling with cops."

"I know," Reyna whispered back "Follow me."

We slipped into an alleyway and away from the crowd, hiding ourselves for the moment. We moved a few streets over and sat down to rest, concealing ourselves in the shadows under an old bridge. I thought about sending an Iris Message to Raven, but I had nothing to make a rainbow with.

"What do we do now?" I asked Reyna "We're a block away from where we're supposed to be, and cutoff by reporters."

"We need to go around them," She said "We still have a mission."

I nodded and we began our move, heading back towards the way we came until we could see the reporters again. We slipped around them, heading off to the right until the line began to thin out, and we considered it safe to move in. We kept out hoods up, not daring to show our faces with the whole country looking for us.

"Stick close to me," Reyna hissed, hustling me along "Keep your head low."

We kept moving, weaving through the small mass of reporters beginning to leave, having already gotten all they wanted from the story, and now they would probably tweak it a bit to make it more to their liking. Reyna and I continued moving, slipping behind vans and moving quietly, finally reaching the end of the street and getting away.

"Thank the gods," Reyna breathed "I was worried for a moment."

"Yeah, now we just have to wonder what in the hell Raven got himself into." I grumbled

"Ask him yourself." Reyna said, pointing into the distance

I looked up to see Raven and Lacey slipping out of an alleyway, heading in the same direction we were. Raven saw us and waved for us to come to him, leaning up against the wall like he wasn't being looked for all over the town.

"What the hell did you do?" I asked as soon as we were close enough

"I might've gotten in a shootout with some Bloods." He admitted, shrugging like it was nothing

"Are you fucking stupid?" I demanded "You do realize we dipped out to _avoid_ media attention, right?"

"You didn't exactly get out of there clean either," Raven shrugged "So you ain't got a lot of room to talk."

"Yeah, but at least it was back in the town," I told him "But we've gotten away for now, and we need to get to the Underworld."

"I second that," Lacey said "We need to move fast."

"Alright, hope everybody can run good." Raven laughed, taking off

We all sprinted after him, making our way to the entrance of the Underworld. I wondered if this was the last time we would see the light of day, and it kinda sucked that I could be dead in less than an hour. I figured I had better get used to it, or I was in for some unpleasant surprises.

Reyna:

When we finally arrived, the four of us were extremely shocked to find that the lobby was dead empty. Only Charon sat in a chair behind his desk, with no others around him, reading a newspaper. I wondered what had happened, why would all the ghosts normally floating around in here just vanish.

"Are you Charon?" Antonio asked, approaching him

"That I am," He said, not even looking up at us "What can I do ya for?"

"Where are all the dead people?" Raven asked, cutting Antonio off "Percy said this place was crawling with them, what happened to them?"

Charon laid down his newspaper very slowly, almost seeming annoyed that Raven would ask such a question. He sighed, giving Raven a look that seemed to penetrate to his very soul, the very being of who he was. Finally, he stood on his feet and cleared his throat.

"That brother of yours really is a menace," He said "You know that?"

"Eli came through here?" I asked

"Of course he did," Charon said dismissively "Walked right in and told all the souls in here that if they helped him, they would be given new life in a new world. Naturally, the entire place revolted."

"And Eli?" Lacey asked

"Defeated me, very unexpected, and then went down on the ferry and headed on to wherever," Charon shrugged "Been riots and fighting all over the Underworld for a few days now."

"We need to go down there," I told him "We can stop him."

"Oh, that's rich!" Charon laughed "Listen here, daughter of Bellona, that boy tore through Hades, the Furies, Cerberus, and me all at once, what do you possibly think you're going to do to stop him."

"Just let us through," Raven growled, stepping in front of him, hands blazing with silver light "Now!"

Charon looked taken aback for a moment, as though he was confused on what exactly Raven was doing. It lasted for only a few moments though, and he soon returned Raven's glare with one of his very own. An angry creature of the Underworld was never good, especially not when it was angry at you.

"Are you threatening me?" Charon asked in a low tone

"No," Raven said, narrowing his eyes "I don't make threats, I just act. Now let us through before I act."

Charon glared at him, almost as if he was weighing his options. On one hand, he had two of the most powerful demigods to ever live, a descendant of one of them, and one of the Praetors of Camp Jupiter to face down. On the other hand, he could just let us through and see what happens.

"Fine," He said, shrugging "Your funerals, go on down there kids, but don't blame me when you get eaten alive."

Charon motioned us to follow him into the elevator, where he would take us down to the dock. We all piled inside, each of us taking what we were all very aware could be our last look at the world above.

Hestia:

I could feel him. I could feel his energy, I could feel the darkness that clouded his soul and his mind, he was close. I remained motionless, simply staring at the doorway to the cabin. Kronos had attacked, I had hoped to evade him, but he had retained Eli's skills with tracking, skills that rivaled even Artemis. I didn't want to hurt Eli, but it appeared that I would now have to fight him, seeing as he had me cornered. The door suddenly flew off the hinges and shattered to pieces of the floor, sending splinters of wood everywhere and revealing two silhouettes.

"I see my little trick didn't throw you off," I remarked, giving a small smile "Pity, I thought it was good."

"Cutting open your arm and leaving a trail of blood in the opposite direction?" Kronos laughed "It's the oldest trick in the book, we never even followed your trail."

"So," I said conversationally "Why have you come here then, Kronos?"

"The blood of the mothers is needed to awaken my father," Kronos said, his voice sounding doubled between his voice and Eli's "And he'll probably be hungry when he does awaken."

"Come now!" The other voice whined impatiently "Let's take her!"

"Circe?" I laughed "Oh dear, Kronos, you're going to need more than an old has been witch."

With that, I extended my hand and let a column of flames fly at them. They both scattered in opposite directions, reaching for their weapons as they did so. Circe came up holding a long, metal pole, taking a swipe at me. I focused on her first, figuring that taking her down would even the odds a bit between Kronos and I. She wasn't much of a challenge, not for a goddess anyways, but she still knew a thing or two. Kronos ran at me from behind, raising Eli's knives and swiping at my back.

"Haven't gotten used to your new body yet?" I asked, dodging the strikes

Kronos sent two beams of silver light at me, narrowly missing Circe after I dodged them. I kicked her pole from her grasp and sent her flailing into a wall, slamming with enough impact to knock the dust off of the ceiling. I turned back towards Kronos and sent two more columns of fire, which he dodged. The fire caught on the other end of the room and the cabin began to go up, I knew I had to get out quickly. I would survive the burning house, of course, but so would Kronos, and I would probably have a better chance of losing him outside.

"You cannot evade me!" Kronos bellowed, coming after me "I am the commander of time itself, you are nothing!"

Kronos extended his hand and I slowed, I could move but it was hard, like I was weighed down with every step. I couldn't combat the magic, and now Kronos was slowly advancing, taking the time to admire his catch.

"I must admit," Kronos laughed, jabbing my side with a tranquilizer arrow "You gave more of a challenge than that huntress did. Ohhh you should've seen her, begging her son to stop, it was quite enjoyable, for me that is. I will admit, it took some time for me to take the boy over completely, he was incredibly strong willed."

With those words, my world went black. I, a goddess, now needed a demigod's help more than ever. I never did like to be the one playing the damsel in distress role, but I suppose every story has to have at least one. I was just playing my part given to me by the Fates in another demigod's story.

Raven:

By the time all of us had actually gotten to the Underworld for good, I had already had enough my first time, the second time was overkill, the final time was just aggravating. We reached the gates and Charon guided us past Cerberus, meaning I wasn't totally fucked, I had forgotten to get the red ball. We cut through the line and came out on the other side, from there, Charon stopped walking.

"You ain't gonna come help us?" Antonio asked, turning back

"Alas, this as far as I may come, young demigod," Charon said "From here, this fight will be your own. Listen carefully now because I won't be repeating myself. Head off to the East, away from the pllace, you'll need to pass through the fields of punishment but just tell the Furies what you told me and they'll help you. After that, there are two gates to Morpheus's Dreamworld, the first is on the river of forgetfulness, the second is along the river of oblivion. The gates are guarded, so you will have to fight your way through it. If you're going to fall in a river, fall into the first one because the second leads straight to Tartarus. Now, once you're in the Dreamworld, find Abiron and he'll help you."

With those words of wisdom, he vanished. Leaving the four of us no time to ask him questions or anything of the sort, he wasn't kidding when he said he wouldn't repeat himself. We all turned to the direction Charon had pointed and looked in the distance, the fields of punishment. Even from here, I could hear the screams of the tormented and the damned.

"Who the fuck is Abiron?" Antonio asked "Anybody recognize that name?"

"It's Greek," Lacey said "It's a male name, so we're looking for a Greek guy named Abiron."

"More helpful than what I had." I shrugged

"What'd you have?" Antonio asked

"Fuck him," I shrugged "And fuck his bitch too."

Antonio and I laughed and we began walking, heading towards the gates. I took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, passing it back to Antonio. About halfway there, we passed a river made out of what appeared to be a green, sludge-like substance. It bubbled and popped, sending little bits of the river onto the shore.

"Careful," I told the others, taking my pack back "Step in this shit you'll probably grow a third leg or something, looks radioactive as a motherfucker."

"I already got a third leg." Antonio joked

"Yeah," Reyna said, rolling her eyes "Down your throat maybe."

The three of us busted out laughing while Antonio's mouth dropped wide open, in complete shock at what Reyna had just said. I couldn't blame him, it was actually totally unlike Reyna, but that didn't make it any less funny. Eventually, Antonio was laughing too.

"That felt uncalled for." Antonio said when we had finally finished

"You had that one coming." Reyna shrugged

We kept walking until we had reached the fields of punishment, the way we had come was looking better and better the further we stepped. All to be seen for miles was torture, all different kinds of torture. People being whipped, burned, forced to do something for all eternity, you name it, it was there.

"We gotta walk through this bullshit?" I asked

"Keep moving," Reyna said, fixing her eyes on the horizon "Trust me, it makes it easier."

Before we could even move, a loud screech echoed from above us, making us all freeze in our tracks. We looked up, searching for the source, and finding three old ladies circling above us like vultures. They came lower and lower, screeching and howling at us.

"Remember what Charon told us," Lacey whispered "Just tell them what we told him."

"It's a little hard to not be intimidated by them," Antonio said "We might be fucked if they decided to attack."

"Nah, they ain't shit," I laughed "I'd put every single one of them six feet deep."

"Is this so, son of Artemis?" One of the Furies called down to us

The three of them touched down in front of us, hissing at us. The one in the middle pulled out a flaming whip and cracked it across the ground, she grinned with an evil intent. I slipped my hand in my pocket, gripping Impurity. She hummed with anticipation, almost as if my sword was sensing the impending fight.

"Listen," I said, taking a drag off my cigarette "We're not here to-"

"Silence!" The middle Fury hissed, cracking her whip again

This time, she flicked it at me. It struck my cigarette clean out of my lips, shredding it to bits and making it explode in a shower of tobacco. Antonio's mouth dropped open in shock, and I got angry. I glared at the Furies, pulling Impurity from my pocket and flicking it.

"Alright bitch," I growled, feeling Impurity grow into a sword "You want a fight?"

"Raven!" Reyna barked, grabbing my arm "Stand down!"

The Furies and I glared daggers at eachother, neither one of us backing down. Finally, I stepped away, letting Impurity shrink back into a lighter. Reyna stared at me, making sure I backed away from them and stood to the side.

"Excuse our friend," Reyna said "He's just a little-"

"What have you come for, demigods?" The left Fury snapped "What could be so important that you would brave the fields on punishment for it?"

"A potion," Reyna answered "An ancient one that will heal any wounds, one that will be used to resurrect Ouranos if we don't get to it first."

"We know of the potion, demigod," The middle Fury hissed "We know of it's powers, and we know of your quest."

"Word travels fast down here." I muttered

"We will take you through the fields and to the river of forgetfulness," The right Fury hissed "But be warned, in Morpheus's realm, you will find nothing but betrayal, trust no one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Antonio asked

"Who cares?" I said, cutting off one of the Furies "Just get us to the gate, I don't care what's in there, I'm going in after Eli."

"Be warned, child of moonlight," The middle Fury hissed "Your brother no longer exists, you cannot save him."

"Why does everybody keep on telling me that?" I demanded

"The three of you are all marked for death," The right Fury hissed "You should've never been born, and you will be tried more than any other demigod has before you."

"Could we maybe just not with the riddles today?" Antonio asked

I had to agree with Antonio on that one, riddles were starting to piss me off. If I had my way, I'd just go ape shit on the entire Underworld and rip to pieces until I found the potion and my brother. Unfortunately, being a demigod usually means you have to play by everybody else's rules but your own because the ones who usually make the rules can vaporize you with a snap of their fingers.

"Excuse me," Lacey said, raising her hand "But what exactly do you mean by the whole 'marked for death' thing?"

"You!" The middle Fury hissed, pointing an old wrinkled finger at her "Do you think we don't know who you are? You're the grandchild of the traitor!"

"No shit." I muttered

"You cannot trust this one," The right Fury told us "She will turn her back on you as soon as you need her help."

"I would never do that!" Lacey exclaimed, taken aback "Never!"

"Alright!" Antonio snapped, pulling both of his swords "I'm done with this bullshit! Stop with the riddles and stop with the warnings, take us to the gates right now so we can end this. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I've been cramped in a cab for what felt like forever, I just wanna get back to camp and smoke a damn blunt, so let's just go!"

The Furies looked slightly taken aback, not expecting Antonio to snap. I could tell if he didn't get the answers he wanted, he would start swinging, and I'd probably be right behind him. After a brief, tense moment, the Furies all nodded in unison.

"Very well, demigods," The middle one hissed "Follow us, and don't interfere with anything."

 **Man, it's so cool to look back and see everything I've written. I'm not really famous on this site, but it's still fun as hell for sure. God bless all of you guys, please read and review.**


	13. Chapter 13: Assaulting the bridge

**Hey guys, how's everything been? So I just released a new story called A demigod tragedy, it's only a one-shot but Percy Jackson fans should go check it out. Anyways, God bless all you guys and please read and review. PS sorry it's been so long since an update, I've had a severe case of writer's block and it's been kicking my ass on pretty much every story I'm trying to write.**

Chapter 13: Assaulting the bridge

Antonio:

I spent the majority of my life trying to forget a lot of things, my walk through the fields on punishment was one of them. I saw a man on a stick being slowly rotated over a fire while a group of demonic looking kids sang a song in some long lost language. I saw another man rolling a rock up the hill, but whenever he would get close, it just fell. Shit was fucked up.

"Bro," Raven muttered when we finally exited another gate "I'm glad we're out of there."

"Yeah, me too." I agreed, fighting the urge to throw up

"This is as far as we may take you," One of the Furies said, landing in front of us "The quest is for you four alone, we cannot interfere."

"I wonder if the other side plays by the same rules." I said

"Probably not." Raven shrugged

"Remember demigods!" The Fury said as she flew away "Trust nobody!"

I wondered about that Abiron guy and if we were clear to trust him, but I figured Charon wouldn't tell us to if we couldn't. I looked down at the river of forgetfulness, it's white milky waters flowing below us, right into a waterfall at the end. There were no gates, just a wide arch, with a lot of monsters on it.

"We're outnumbered," Raven whispered, ducking down behind a bush "At least fifty to one."

"Sounds even," Reyna said, drawing her sword "Let's do this."

"She's a keeper." Raven muttered to me

"Shut the fuck up." I growled at him

"Okay, listen up," Raven whispered, turning to us "Let me get the guys by the gates, then you three come in and start fucking everything up, we'll clear this thing in no time."

We nodded and Raven crouched low, going into wolf form. He gave a howl and pounced from the bushed, alerting the guards at the gates. They scrambled for their weapons, but Raven was already on top of them, ripping them to shreds.

"Lets go!" Lacey yelled, running at them with her bow

She started picking them off while Reyna and I ran in with our swords, cutting them down in groups. I blocked one's sword and kicked him off the side of the bridge into the water below, ducking and slashing down another one all in the same motion. I blasted a column of fire at a group of four, taking all but one. Raven pounced from behind and took down the straggler, tearing into them.

"The monsters at the other end!" Lacey yelled "They see us!"

The monsters were regrouping at the end of the bridge, charging after us with their weapons raised. I dodged an arrow as Raven morphed back into a human, sending two quick bursts of silver light into the monsters, wiping our a chunk of them. I blocked a spear from a Telkhine and slashed across his chest, vaporizing him. Lacey had drawn her knives and was rushing them full force, literally jumping and flipping right over them and stabbing them in the back as she came down.

"This is a nice change of pace!" Reyna yelled to me, cutting down a snake woman

"Yeah," I agreed "Beats the hell out of a cab!"

I slashed a Telkhine through the chest and kicked a Hellhound off the side of the bridge. Raven was taking the bulk of the monsters to himself, and he was winning. He cut them down in fours and five, using their numbers against them, causing confusion in their ranks. Soon, the remaining monsters were fleeing from the bridge and off into the meadows in front of us.

"I got em." Lacey said, raising her bow to the sky

"No," Raven said, putting his hand on her bow "Let them go, I want them to know we're coming."

"Is that a good idea?" I asked "What if they get reinforcements before we get there?"

"I'd like a challenge." Raven said, staring into the meadow "Let's go."

We headed across the bridge and into the meadow. The grass was up to my chest, and I was praying we didn't step on a hole or something we couldn't see, it was the perfect place to set up traps, we would've all gotten fucked up instantly.

"That bridge wasn't hard to take out," Lacey remarked after a period of silence "You guys think the next one might be the same?"

"Doubtful," Raven shrugged "They'll want to hold us back, so the next one is probably even more guarded."

We kept advancing, watching our step and moving carefully. Raven moved with the silence of a true hunter, not even so much as rustling the grass where he walked. His eyes continued darting back and forth, looking out for any potential threats.

"Watch it," Reyna said, sticking her arm out "Trip wire."

I stopped dead and looked down, spotting a thin wire running through the grass. I couldn't tell where it was connected, but I didn't want to set it off and find out. I carefully stepped over it and continued next to Reyna. I spared her a quick glance and found she had been staring at me. When I looked over, her cheeks turned red and she turned away. In the distance, I could see the faint outline of the second gate leading to the bride over the river of oblivion.

"These things weren't very far apart." Lacey noted, pointing to the distance

"It's still a good distance away," I said "And I'll bet there's an ass load of monsters on it."

"Wouldn't doubt it," Raven said "Doesn't matter, I'll rip every single one of them apart, bit by bit if I feel like it."

I noticed that the closer we got to our objective, the darker Raven's personality became. He was closing in on a choice, and we all knew it. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell it bothered him, knowing he might have to kill Eli.

"Wait," Reyna hissed suddenly, halting and holding up her hand "Stop."

All three of us stopped dead, listening for the slightest hint of movement, watching for something wrong. The thing was though, there was nothing out of the ordinary. We were all alone in the middle of a giant field, watching our destination loom in the distance.

"What?" Lacey asked "There's nothing out there."

"There's something in the grass," Reyna said, drawing her weapon "I swear."

I was about to suggest maybe Reyna might've been dehydrated or maybe hungry, perhaps the effects of the Underworld were starting to get to her. Before I could even so much as open my mouth, I caught a small rustle in the tall blades of grass in the fields behind us.

"There!" I said, drawing my swords and pointing

The others turned, Raven and Lacey drawing their weapons. Two things happened at once, one of them was really shitty and the other was just the lesser of two evils. A massive scorpion pushed itself from the ground below, bursting through the dirt and pulling itself up to the grass.

"What the fuck is that?" Raven yelled, backing away

"Not friendly." Reyna said, charging it

The four of us moved in on it, Lacey picking shots with her arrows and the rest of us taking a shot with our swords whenever we saw an opening. Our swords bounced off his shell and Lacey's arrows broke the second they made contact, we couldn't make a dent in it. Raven blasted a beam of silver light into the monster, causing it to back up quickly and roar in frustration, but it did no real damage. Within moments he had recovered, making his way back to us.

"There's more of them!" Lacey yelled, pointing to a spot where two more had just sprung up

"Alright," Raven admitted "Maybe this could be an issue."

I attacked the nearest one with everything I had, slashing and hacking at it to keep it at bay, giving it no room to strike back. I felt a warmth coming from my swords and looked down, damn near dropped them. Flames were licking off of my blades, and the scorpions eyed me wearily. Raven was fighting like a demon, attacking them with a fire I had never seen from him, but even he couldn't do anything. Lacey and Reyna were attacking one together, but they could only push it back.

"Shit!" Raven yelled, drawing back quickly

He had a slash across his shoulder where the scorpion had lashed out with it's stinger and caught him. The four of us stood back to back, holding our weapons out to ward off the scorpions, who clicked their pinchers and flicked their tails back and forth in anticipation, knowing they had us. They bore down on us slowly, knowing they had us, clicking excitedly.

"Any ideas?" I asked

"One," Raven admitted "And it's probably not gonna work."

"I'll take anything you can throw out," I said "Do it."

Raven threw his head back and let out a howl, which echoed throughout the Underworld. I don't mean some small sound that sort of echoed, I mean it sounded like an actual wolf calling out to his pack, letting them know he needed their help. The scorpions coiled back, almost as if the sound hurt them, and then came the wolves.

 **Sorry it was kind of short, but like I said, writers block is kicking the hell out of me, I'm hoping maybe if I step back for a second and think I may be able to find an angle to take this in, anyways please read and review, God bless, I'll see everybody next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14: Author's note

Hey guys, so before anybody gets excited, no this is not an update, it's an author's note. As a lot of you may have noticed, it's been a stupid long time since I've had an update, any of you that write will know that writers block is a bitch. Now that being said, I've come up with an easy solution, a revision of my story. I've set a lot of things in motion that have made it hard to write because certain things prevent this and that, so over the next few weeks or so I will be doing some editing and what not throughout the series, here's a few things I'm going to change so that those of you who have read up to this point don't have to go back and reread everything if you don't want to.

Raven and Amber

I always intended for the two of them to fall in love, and originally there was only supposed to be one book. One night I got the idea in my head to make it a series, but since there was more than one book now I feel as though I pushed the two of them together too quickly, they didn't have time to grow together and share hardships and what not. Also, I'd like Amber to be a Hunter for a while longer because, without realizing what I had done, I had Amber leave the hunt then I just turned her into a damsel type character which was a huge turn from the badass demigod/hunter daughter of Aphrodite in the first book, so I'll be fixing that and then even after she leaves the Hunt I think I'll try and keep her badass, but they'll still be together don't freak.

Eli and Kayla

When I originally came up with Eli, I had intended for him to be the evil version of Raven, but then I decided another Big Three prophecy was the way to go. Now with him and Kayla it's the same was with Amber and Raven, I pushed them together too quickly. Going back and reading I think the baby thing was a nice touch, but the whole getting married thing and falling in love was so unbecoming of Eli's character that I couldn't stick with it. They're supposed to be smart, meaning they don't fall in love with every pretty face to come along, so I'll be adjusting that a bit.

Reyna and Antonio

This one hasn't evolved much yet, and I may leave it where it is and let happen naturally, but I kind of started to do what I did with the first two so I may bring it back a little bit but there isn't much to report on this one.

Gwen and Nico

I do have to mention this because I took some flak for this a while back. I had forgotten that Nico was gay and set him up with Gwen in a prequel I did to the son of the Huntress on Watpad (It's called the seven go to goode high school, really corny and generic name I know and I'm actually a bit embarrassed by it because it's just so bad but it set me up for this series) now, here's the part that might piss people off. I won't be changing it. I know I'm a homophobic asshole but Gwen and Nico's death has a huge impact on the story flow and I loved it, especially the emotion and what not, so sorry guys.

The prophecy

This is also corny and stupid so I'm fixing this for sure.

Raven's "COMPTON" hat

Many of you may recognize Raven's famous, blue, flat-billed Compton snap back, this was an addition to the story before I had planned on Eli and I kinda had an obsession with Compton hats at the time, still want to get one actually but I'm going to change his hat to say Brooklyn instead of Compton, but since he's a Crip it'll say Crooklyn you know because gang members love hats.

That's all I can think of for the moment, shoot me a message if you've got anything else you're thinking, I may come back and update this note if I think of anything else, as always God bless


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